In My Rival's Shoes
by rockof90
Summary: Joey and Kaiba switch bodies due to a spell. Can they restore things to normal without destroying each other's lives?
1. The Madness Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh

_Alright guys, I promised you this fic, and now it's finally arrived! Though this isn't an official sequel, it is a continuation of Hell at Domino High, which is why there will be references to that fic in this one. Anyway, I hope you all like this story. Enjoy!_

The ring of a bell signaled the beginning of the next lunch period for the students of Domino High. Two hundred students rushed into the out dated and cramped lunchroom and fought their way through the lines. One blond student in particular was quite aggressive that day.

"Sorry! Excuse me!" Joey hollered as he rushed to the front, "ACK!"

In his blind desire to get that day's lunch special, he unintentionally bumped into someone he shouldn't have. A tall brunette cursed under his breath as he tried to regain his balance.

"_Wheeler!_" Kaiba growled, as he finally got back firmly on his feet, "Will you watch where you're going!"

Joey smiled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Eh, sorry about dat Kaiba; it's pizza day ya know."

The young CEO fumed as he brushed some dirt off from his uniform, "_I know that!_ It doesn't give you the excuse to run around like a rabid mutt!"

"What did ya say!" Joey growled as he took a step forward.

"HEY!" Weevil yelled from behind the two, "Would you two hurry it up! I'm starving!"

Kaiba and Joey turned their attention to the line behind them and saw various students yelling and shaking their fists. Kaiba turned around and walked up to the serving line to get his meal, and Joey grabbed a tray and marched behind him. As Kaiba left, the excited blond examined the options.

"Hey, where's the Fiesta pizza?" he whimpered.

"Sorry kid," the lunch lady apologized, "the guy before you took the last slice."

Joey growled and turned to look at Kaiba, who was trying to find a place to sit down. Unfortunately the only table that wasn't crammed was that of where the Thief Bakura was sitting and reading some book on ancient magic. Joey swallowed hard, grabbed his food, and approached the white haired maniac cautiously. The thief frowned as Joey casted a shadow upon him, and turned to face him with an unwelcoming glare.

"Uh, h-hey there," Joey greeted, "Everywhere else is full, so could-"

"No!" he barked as he went back to reading.

Joey began stuttering, which caused the thief to groan in annoyance.

"You may sit here just this once," he warned, "and if you do _anything _to make me mad, you'll wish you'd never been born!"

"Wow, thanks!" the blond cheered as he took his seat.

"Ignorant mortal," the thief grumbled as he went back to reading.

As Joey licked his lips and started gobbling down his meal, the infamous CEO took a seat at the far end of the table and opened his milk carton. The thief put down his book and glared at Kaiba, who continued to ignore him and eat his food.

"Who the hell said you could sit here!" the thief demanded.

"It's a free country," Kaiba growled, "I don't have to ask your permission for anything!"

"HEY! Don't talk to him like dat!" Joey barked.

"Stay out of this mutt!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

"For the love of Ra," the thief grumbled as he gritted his teeth, "Will you two _shut the hell up!_"

The two rivals continued to ignore the angry man, and Kaiba leaned forward with a sneer.

"Stay. Out. Of. This. Mutt!" he repeated.

"THAT DOES IT!" Joey yelled as he grabbed his milk carton.

Without fully thinking of his actions, the blond tossed the already opened carton towards his enemy; only the contents splattered all over the ancient thief instead. The carton overshot Kaiba and he laughed, only to be cut off by the thief's screaming. Everyone stopped eating and looked towards him nervously. The thief growled and stood up as his Millennium Ring appeared and began to glow.

"You two are going to get it!" he seethed, "But not now; there's far too many witnesses. I will simply deal with you later!"

And with that, he grabbed his now damaged book and stormed out of the lunch room. The two rivals exchanged brief glances as Odion tossed a rag at them.

"You're cleaning that up!" he ordered.

…

The rest of the day passed by with ease, and the gang was walking towards the school gates talking about their days.

"I can't wait to get home," Yugi said, "Grandpa's supposed to be getting some new games."

"Not me," Joey groaned, "I gotta clean the apartment cuz my sister's coming over tomorrow; not that it matters. My old man will just trash it again."

"Tough break," Tristan said as he patted him on the back, "but at least you'll get to see your sister. Say, you don't mind if I come and visit, do ya?"

Joey growled as he pushed his friend's hand away.

"Don't even think about it! Besides, if she starts bringing admirers home my old man will have a fit."

"JOSEPH WHEELER AND SETO KAIBA, PLEASE REPORT TO THE DEAN'S OFFICE!" a voice roared over the intercoms.

The gang stopped in their tracks and frowned. The blond groaned as he slouched.

"Uh oh," Tea pointed out, "Looks like she heard about the lunch room incident."

"Oh man!" Joey grumbled as he brought his hand to his face, "My old man's not gonna be happy about dis!"

"Joey, I don't think anything can make your old man happy," Tristan pointed out, "Anyway, we'll wait up for you at the shop, if you come back alive that is."

"Gee, thanks for da support," the blond mumbled.

Yugi patted his friend on the back, "It'll be fine Joey. Just be glad Dartz isn't the dean, or your soul would be offered up to the Leviathan."

Miho gasped as she brought her hand up to her face, "Did that actually happen?"

"Yeah," Tristan answered, "Joey and I only got out safe because the principal walked in and stopped him…that was the second craziest school day ever."

"JOSEPH WHEELER, COME TO THE DEAN'S OFFICE NOW!" the intercom roared again.

"Oops! Gotta go!" Joey yelled as he took off.

The blond ran through campus looking for the dean's office, which was right next to the main one. He finally came across it, and rushed inside. The room was somewhat small, having barely enough room for a desk and several seats. Kaiba sat in the seat beside the door as the new dean glared at Joey.

"Have a seat," she hissed.

Joey swallowed hard, and took one far away from his rival. The dean stood up and crossed her arms. Joey couldn't quite place it, but something seemed off about her: souless eyes, a distorted voice, and the Eye of Horus glowing on her forehead.

"Now then," she hissed, "You two will pay!"

The lights went out as she laughed maniacally, and a purple fog surrounded the two boys. Joey screamed and Kaiba growled, then a blinding light filled the room. Seconds later, everything returned to normal; except the dean was now gone.

"Well that was weird."

"Huh? Hey moneybags, why'd ya sound like me just…"

Joey turned to face his rival, only to find that he was facing not Kaiba, but himself.

_A/N: Just as a heads up, this story will _not_ have Puppyshipping. I'm sorry folks, but that ship is just so overdone; not to mention there's already a Puppyshipping fic out there with them switching bodies (wouldn't wanna be a copycat, now would I?). There will be other shippings though, but I won't say what. Feel free to leave a review. _


	2. Sorting Things Out

_Thanks for the reviews and subscriptions everyone. I will try to update this story monthly. I'd like to do it weekly but I just don't have the time. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter._

…

Joey and Kaiba screamed as the realization hit them; that they had somehow ended up in each others' bodies.

"DIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Joey yelled as he examined himself, "I-I'm…too tall!"

"This is way too real! Whoever designed these holograms must have really-"

"They're not holograms you ignoramus," a voice growled, "You're really in Joey's body."

The two turned and saw the Thief Bakura kicking back in the Dean's chair, with a smirk plastered upon his face.

"Did you think Yugi was the only one who could switch souls?"

"Switching souls?" Kaiba asked with scoff, "You're out of your mind!"

"And you're out of your body," the thief retorted with a grin, "Tell me Kaiba, if I didn't use magic and switch your souls out, how _did_ you end up like this?"

The now blond CEO opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't think of an explanation. The thief smirked as he stood up.

"Wait a sec," Joey asked as he looked around, "What happened to da dean? Why did she let this happen?"

Yami Bakura crossed his arms and cocked his head slightly, "Oh, she was a mind slave, courtesy of Marik. He did warn Kaiba that he'd pay him back for attempting to get his sister arrested last semester."

Kaiba growled as he took a step forward, "Enough! Tell us how to get back to normal! I have a company to run you know, and I'm not gonna let this moron mess things up!"

"MORON?" Joey demanded.

The thief cackled lightly, "Remember this?"

He pulled out a book and tossed it onto the desk. The cover was damp and the majority of the pages were either soaked or disintegrated. Joey turned red slightly as the memory came back to him.

"Thanks to you two, I won't be able to perfect my dark magic for quite some time. I'll need you to find a way to replace this."

"A book?" Kaiba asked, "You switched out our minds and brainwashed the dean over a _book_?"

"Not just a book, but a collection of dark spells which I've gathered from various places. You won't find this in your local bookstore. No, you'll have to hunt down copies of the scrolls I've lost, or you'll be stuck like this until the day you die!"

Kaiba groaned as he looked over his body. Joey wasn't nearly as tall as him, or kempt, not to mention Yugi and the others would pester him non-stop. He also thought about his company. Even if he decided to just take over in his new body, how would he explain the situation to the press without being committed? Not only would he be hugging himself with a white jacket, but his investors would probably pull out and he could kiss his wealth goodbye.

Joey was examining the options through his mind too. His friends would probably accept the situation if he explained magic was involved, not to mention he'd own a multi-billion dollar company. He'd be rich, and all the girls would want him. He also wouldn't have to put up with his old man.

But then he thought about all the attempts on Kaiba's life. He didn't want to die just because he happened to look like money-bags now. He too decided that they needed to fix the situation.

"Alright then," Joey said, "Tell us how to get the scrolls."

"I knew you'd come around," the thief answered, "Alright, I snared a copy of those scrolls from the Domino Egyptian Exhibit. There were several copies, but I could only get one before the security alarms went off."

"The museum? You stole them?" Joey asked.

He smirked as he crossed his arms, "Hey, it's what I do."

A thought struck Kaiba and he spoke up.

"And how are we supposed to get them? I don't think the staff at the museum will just hand them over."

The thief scowled and crossed his arms.

"Well that's not my problem, now is it? I'm sure you'll find a way."

He then let his arms fall to his sides and jumped off the desk. He placed his right hand in his pocket and headed for the door.

"Now then," he said, "I've got to be going. I may be a five thousand year old spirit, but I do have a life you know. If you need me, come find me; although if you don't have the scrolls, I wouldn't even bother."

He then opened the door and closed it behind him, leaving the two rivals alone. Joey sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Well dis sucks," he said, "How am I supposed to go home like dis?"

"You're not," Kaiba answered, "If we don't want to raise suspicion, we need to try and pass ourselves off as each other. That means, you'll have to act like me and live like me, so knock it off with the accent."

Joey gritted his teeth, but didn't snap back.

"Alright," he agreed, "But I'd still like to tell Yugi about dis…eh, this."

"No, absolutely not."

Joey raised an eyebrow and straightened his posture.

"Why not? He'll believe us! Heck, he might even be able to help out!"

"And what if he doesn't? Do you really want word getting out about this Wheeler?"

"So you're not even gonna tell your brother?"

Kaiba stiffened and thought.

"No, he'd think we're nuts. Plus, I don't want to traumatize him."

"Oh, but acting like another person won't?"

Kaiba growled and let out a sigh.

"If you play this straight and do what I say, I'm hoping he won't even notice," he said, "But, if it does become necessary, them I suppose I will tell him."

Joey nodded.

"Alright then. I guess we'll lay down our ground rules. Number one: stay away from my candy jar!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and agreed, "I'll try to resist. Okay, under no circumstances are you allowed to mess with my company! I swear if any of my stocks go down-"

"Sheesh, relax! I won't mess with your company! Although, I would like to play with your computers."

"No!"

"Aw man!" Joey whined, "Are you gonna let me have _any_ fun?"

Kaiba growled and attempted to stare down at him, but with his new height found this to be impossible, so he instead just tried to scowl harder.

"This isn't supposed to be fun Wheeler! We are dealing with a delicate situation here! I want this to be over with as soon as possible!"

Joey sighed and gave in.

"Alright, alright. Okay, so, don't mess with my life and I won't mess with yours. Now, my sister's coming over tomorrow, so you'll need to pick her up at the train station around five in the evening. And our apartment needs to be cleaned, so have fun with dat."

He wondered if he should warn Kaiba about his father's temper, but decided for the sake of his amusement to neglect that detail. Kaiba looked confused.

"Sister?" he asked.

"Yeah, Serenity. The red head that hung out with us during Battle City."

Kaiba frowned and crossed his arms.

"Oh, now I remember," he grumbled.

Joey scowled at his rival's reaction.

"Be nice to her," he warned, "If you make her cry even once I'll…"

He suddenly stopped, and his mouth started to hang open as his eyes widened. Kaiba let his arms fall to his sides and placed a hand of his hip.

"Now what?" he inquired.

Joey bit his lip and started to rub the back of his neck.

"Uh…I just remembered that I've got a date with Mai next Friday…but hopefully dis will be sorted out by then!"

"Please tell me you're not going to force me into a date with her."

"What's the matter Kaiba? Don't like girls?" Joey teased.

Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"I don't have time for trivial things like dating," he answered, "And even if I did, I wouldn't want to date that loud-mouth."

"Hey!" Joey snapped, "You shut up about her!"

"Would you rather I be attracted to her?"

He growled and decided to drop the subject.

"Alright, I guess we should head to each other's houses. Lemme write down my address."

He opened his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. Kaiba grabbed his laptop and held it closely as Joey scribbled down his address.

"I'm keeping my computer," Kaiba said, "I can handle my business through this, so you won't get to screw anything up. I just hope meetings don't become necessary."

Joey nodded and handed him the slip of paper.

"And I already know where you live. I'll call you later so we can figure out what we're supposed to do."

"Alright," Kaiba said as he grabbed the paper and shoved it in his pocket, "The sooner we sort things out the better. I can't even imagine how awful it's going to be stuck in your life."

Joey snapped his fingers and picked up Kaiba's bookbag.

"Speaking of which, you'll have to head to Yugi's house. He and the others are waiting up for me, and you'd better be nice to them!"

Kaiba growled and picked up Joey's bookbag.

"I'll try. Well, here's my cell. Go ahead and call the chauffeur."

Joey's eyes widened as his rival handed him a cell phone.

"You're letting me have access to your servants?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't want people seeing me living like a commoner, it'll raise suspicion, remember? Just don't abuse your privileges. Oh, and stay away from my cards, or else."

"Fine," the now brunette boy pouted, "Well then, I guess we should go. Let's try to meet up at the pier tomorrow so we can come up with a plan. Midnight should be a good time."

"Alright," Kaiba agreed, "Later."

The two walked out of the office and parted ways, for now.

_A/N: The next chapter will be more interesting and the two will start trying to act as each other around their friends and family members. Let's see how long it takes them to start screwing things up. Feel free to leave a review. _


	3. So Far So Good

_Thanks for the favs, alerts and reviews. In this chapter the two will begin living each others' lives, or at least attempting to. Enjoy._

…

Kaiba scowled as he walked down the street, kicking a can along the way. He received stares from passerbies, possibly wondering what could be upsetting the normally enthusiastic blond boy. He came to a stop as he spotted Muto's game shop. It hadn't changed since the last time he went there, which was back before Duelist Kingdom. Letting out a sigh he reluctantly approached the shop and entered through the front door. Yugi, along with his grandfather and friends looked up and smiled at him.

"Hello Joey," Solomon greeted, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kaiba answered, trying to force a smile, "I'm fine."

Normally the CEO could play a pretty good poker face, but his fake smile just didn't look natural on Joey's features. Yugi and the others could tell he was lying.

"So I'm guessing things didn't go well with the dean," Tristan spoke up.

"You can say that again," Kaiba muttered under his breath.

Tea gasped.

"She didn't call your dad, did she?" she asked.

Kaiba shook his, well, Joey's head.

"Thankfully, no."

"Say, aren't you supposed to go home and clean the house?" Yugi inquired.

Kaiba couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. Finally, an opportunity to get away from the geek squad.

"Oh, yes, you're right!" Kaiba answered, "I'd better get going!"

"Okay Joey, see you later," Yugi said.

Kaiba waved and quickly turned around and left the shop. He let out a sigh as he walked back towards the high school, near where the Wheeler residence was. So far he hadn't blown his cover or caused any harm. He hoped that things were going well with Joey in his shoes.

…

Joey kicked back in the limo he had called up using Kaiba's cell phone. His legs were stretched out over the seats and he had his arms crossed over his torso. The driver looked at the boy in the rear-view mirror in confusion. His teenage employer normally wasn't so relaxed.

The boy sat up and looked out the window. The vehicle had passed a large cast iron gate and was now driving up to a mansion. He'd known Kaiba was rich, but actually seeing the mansion astounded him. The best part: it was all his!

Joey practically ran up the steps once the driver opened his door, but he quickly reminded himself that Kaiba didn't usually run. As calmly as he could he opened the front door and walked inside. The sight of burgundy carpeting and vertically striped walls greeted him. He couldn't help but gawk at the sight of the mahogany staircase and the large blue couch sitting in front of him. The lack of a television set or stereo showed him that he was standing in the entrance room. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the other rooms must look like.

Mokuba walked downstairs, still wearing his school uniform. Joey had half forgotten that Kaiba had enrolled him at the high school the previous year. The younger Kaiba spotted him and smiled.

"Seto!" he greeted, running towards him, "I'm glad you're finally home."

"Me too," Joey said as he continued looking around.

Mokuba bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I, um, I know you're probably about to go to the office, but, do you think maybe you could help me with my homework?"

Joey blinked. He wasn't a complete moron, but he still struggled with his own work. He realized though that Mokuba was below his grade, so he could probably figure it out.

"Sure thing," he replied.

The young boy's eyes glistened like the lights on a Christmas tree.

"Thanks Seto!"

"No problem. Now, bring me the work."

…

Kaiba stared in appall at the sight before him. He had just entered the home of his enemy and saw the mess that was the Wheeler living room. Clothes and crumbs were piled up on the couch, muddy boots sat by the closet door, and a pile of beer cans lay on the coffee table. His eye twitched as he heard somebody moving around in one of the back rooms; at least, he hoped it was a _someone_ and not _something_.

A lanky blond haired man walked in from one of the rooms. He brushed his bangs away from his brown eyes with his left hand while he clutched a beer can in his right. He scowled at the young man standing before him.

"Well it's about time you got home!" he growled, "This house was supposed to be cleaned this morning!"

"Why didn't you just do it?" Kaiba snapped without thinking.

Mr. Wheeler glared at him.

"I've been working all day!" he yelled, "I have to work from dusk till dawn to support you and your sister! The least you can do is show me some damn respect!"

Kaiba held his breath. Whenever his step father got angry he would have to endure physical and mental punishment. He doubted that Mr. Wheeler was the same way, but he wasn't about to anger someone that had parental authority and had been drinking.

"Yes sir," he caved, "I'll clean up right away."

"Thank you," Mr. Wheeler spat, "It's about time!"

With that the older man went back into his bedroom and slammed the door. Kaiba sighed and went into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards to try and find a garbage bag.

'_I'll need a bigger bag,'_ Kaiba thought to himself as he looked at the Wheeler home.

…

Joey sat at Mokuba's desk completely dumbfounded. He probably should've figured that the younger Kaiba would be doing advanced work, but there was no going back now. Mokuba looked up at the person he thought was his brother and noticed the pained look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Joey jumped in his chair and turned to face him.

"Uh, yeah, I just…I can't believe how easy this work is!" he lied.

"So what's the answers Seto?"

Joey's eyes widened. He bit his lip, failing to hide his nervousness.

"Uh…I, uh, I can't give you the answer!" he drawled, "That would be…uh, cheating."

Mokuba rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed, to which Joey sighed in relief. "So, can you show me how to find the answers?"

At that point, the young man wanted to disappear. He has no idea what the answers were, much less how to find them. He realized though that if Kaiba's little brother couldn't figure it out, he could just make it up as he went along. He grinned at his genius.

"Of course," Joey said, "Watch and learn!"

…

Kaiba wiped the sweat of his forehead as he examined his work. The living room and kitchen were now spotless. Mr. Wheeler stepped out of his room and looked around.

"Nice work," he complimented, "Now I can actually sit on the couch."

"Thanks," Kaiba said, "Now I just need to clean my bedroom."

"Good luck," Mr. Wheeler said as he moved towards the couch.

The young CEO couldn't help but wonder, and worry, what his rival's room looked like. If it had been Wheeler that wrecked the living room and not his father, he was in for a nasty surprise. He reluctantly walked towards the door next to that of Mr. Wheeler's room. He placed his hand on the knob and turned slowly, as if some horrible creature were on the other side, and for all he knew, there could be one.

"Hey, I'm gonna go hit the bar down the road," Mr. Wheeler called, "I'll be back later."

Kaiba just nodded in response as the front door opened and closed. Finally, he was rid of that headache. He opened the door to Wheeler's bedroom and stared at the sight before him.

If the living room and dining room had been hit by a tornado, then his rival's room had been hit by a meteor. Clothes, magazines and soda cans cluttered the room, covering up whatever carpeting there may have been. Kaiba suspected that if anyone was unfortunate enough to fall down, they probably wouldn't ever be found. The only thing remotely organized what the deck of cards on his rival's nightstand. Kaiba clutched onto the trash bag in his hands, thinking that he could be better off just throwing a match into the room and letting the flames take care of everything.

'_Well,' _he thought with a shudder, _'better get to work.'_

_A/N: I actually know something whose room was as messy as Joey's, well, two people actually, and when my brother spent the night at one of their houses the person fell down and my brother couldn't find them for a few minutes. It was crazy. Feel free to leave a review._


	4. A Plan at Last

_Thank you for the reviews. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy_

…

The rest of the evening had gone by rather smoothly. After Joey finished 'helping' Mokuba with his homework he called his apartment and hoped that Kaiba would answer and not his father. The phone rang for a few seconds before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Joey heard his own voice ask on the other line.

"Oh, hey Kaiba, how's it going?" he asked.

"Terrible!" Kaiba growled, "Your apartment's a dump! How on Earth can you let your room get so nasty?"

"Well it's not like I have a maid to clean up after me, Richy Rich," Joey retorted.

Kaiba scoffed, "So what did you want?"

Joey sighed and leaned back in the chair at Kaiba's desk. He had his feet propped up by the keyboard and had a game paused on the computer. He hoped Kaiba wouldn't mind him downloading Pacman and some other cool games and music.

"I was thinking we should come up with a plan to get those scrolls," Joey answered, "I mean, as sweet as your mansion and money is I don't want to live in your body forever."

"So what do you have in mind?" Kaiba asked, getting impatient.

"I don't know, you come up with something. You're the genius after all."

The CEO paused on the other line. Joey waited, hoping that his rival would be able to come up with some kind of plan.

"Well, Ishizu was in charge of the exhibit," Kaiba said, "Maybe since you're a friend of Yugi's she'll lend you, well, me, the scrolls."

Joey smacked his hand against his face.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" he asked.

"Maybe because you're an idiot," Kaiba suggested.

Joey's face reddened and he tightened his grip on the phone.

"Hey, you take dat back!" he yelled.

The other line went dead, and Joey realized that his enemy had hung up on him. He growled and gritted his teeth, slamming the phone onto the receiver.

"Dat jerk!" he yelled.

…

The rest of the evening passed by rather smoothly, and the two boys found themselves back in school the next day. Kaiba wanted to just skip school and head straight to the museum, but he didn't know if Wheeler would want an absence on his record or not. He figured if he did anything to screw up Wheeler's life that his rival would intentionally screw up his, and he very well didn't want that.

Kaiba groaned as he sat around in his Spanish class. Not only did he share it with the pointy haired dweep Tristan and friendship obsessed Gardner, but the teacher was Pegasus' former henchmen with a hair pointy enough to make Tristan green with envy.

"Atencion estudiantes! Attention students! Please turn in your books to chapter twelve!" Kemo announced.

Kaiba pulled out his textbook and followed instructions. Tristan and Tea looked at him in amazement.

"Wow, five minutes into class and you're no asleep," Tristan said, "You must really be excited about tonight."

He raised an eyebrow at him.

"Tonight? Oh, yes! Tonight!" Kaiba said, not wanting to blow his cover, "I sure am!"

Truth was that Kaiba had no idea what Taylor was talking about, but he figured he'd just ask Joey about it after he made a trip to the museum. Although, after he got the scrolls and gave them to Bakura it wouldn't even matter. Speaking of which, Kaiba wasn't even sure what scrolls Bakura needed, exactly. He figured he'd just grab some ancient Egyptian spell books and hope the white haired freak would be satisfied.

After the class finished the chapter Kemo handed out papers.

"Attention students!" he instructed, handing out the last sheet, "We will now be having a quiz! You have ten minutes!"

"Finished!" Kaiba announced.

Kemo, along with the other students, stared at the blond in shock.

"No way! Let me see that!" Kemo demanded, marching over to the boy's desk.

Kaiba handed his teacher the paper. Pegasus' former henchman skimmed through it and gasped.

"Attention Joey! You made a one hundred on this quiz! You have earned your first A!"

The students, along with Tristan and Tea, continued staring in disbelief. Kaiba crossed his arms and grinned smugly.

…

Joey unfortunately wasn't having as much luck on his end. The calculus teacher had called upon him to show the class how to solve an equation, and Joey didn't understand any of it. The teacher and students were surprised that the normally brilliant CEO was struggling so much.

"Okay, so uh, you take this number, and uh, put it with this number?" Joey muttered.

The teacher, Mr. Marsh, stepped towards him in concern.

"Are you alright Mr. Kaiba?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Joey lied as he turned to face the man, "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"I can understand that," Mr. Marsh said, "Go sit down."

Joey sighed in relief. He put the chalk down and marched to his seat in the back row. He crossed his arms and slouched in his chair as another student got up. He hoped that by the end of the day Kaiba would get the scrolls from Ishizu and their nightmare would be over.

…

Joey plopped down on the couch after getting home. Just as he started to unwind the younger Kaiba came running downstairs.

"Seto!" he cried.

Joey groaned inwardly and straightened his posture.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I got a zero on my homework!" he cried, "I tried telling the teacher you personally helped, but she wouldn't listen! She insists that the answers are wrong!"

Joey lost the color in his face. He knew he shouldn't have faked that work! What had he been thinking?

"Uh, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," he tried to assure the raven haired boy, "I'll have a talk with her and make things right."

"Thanks Seto, you show her who's boss!"

The boy then ran back upstairs. Joey chuckled nervously and swallowed a lump in his throat. He didn't know how he was going to make this situation right, but he had to think of something quick.

…

Kaiba growled as he walked back into the Wheeler's apartment building. He couldn't believe the museum had been closed over a little paint spill. He hoped that it would be open the next day so he could finally put a stop to all this nonsense.

Sitting down on the couch he pulled out his laptop and checked his stocks. So far everything seemed to be going good for the company. The lights in the living room and kitchen flickered, and he heard rain begin to pour outside.

Kaiba looked at the clock. It was now six. Despite the fact he'd already checked up on his company he couldn't help but get the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something. He shrugged the feeling off and logged into his e-mail account.

The doorknob to the front door started to jiggle, causing Kaiba to jump in his seat. He knew that the lazy drunk was sleeping away in his room, so he had no idea who was outside. Earlier that day he'd seen cop cars in the neighborhood due to a break-in and shooting. Perhaps whoever was trying to enter was a robber.

Kaiba immediately closed up his laptop and grabbed a baseball bat off the coffee table. He didn't even know that Wheeler liked baseball, but it was convenient. The knob continued to jiggle, and then finally it started to turn. A bleak light entered the room as the front door opened and a shadowy figure began to come in. For fear of his life Kaiba ran towards the figure and began swinging at it. He heard several cries as he continued.

"AH! STOP!" a voice cried.

Kaiba got a hold of himself and put the bat down. He got a better look at the intruder and saw that it was a just a fourteen year old girl. His eyes widened as he realized that he'd attacked his rival's sister.

"Oh, uh oh," he stammered, "I, uh…"

Tears built up in Serenity's eyes as she looked up at him.

"Why did you hit me?" she whimpered.

"I am so, so sorry," he apologized, "It's just, there was a break-in earlier and I thought-"

Her eyes widened.

"There was a break-in here?" she asked in panic.

"Well, not here, but in this area," he elaborated, "Anyway, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," she said, rubbing her teeth with her hand, "That tooth was ready to come out anyway. But, why didn't you pick me up at the station?"

Kaiba silently scolded himself. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten about that. Between beating his sister up with a bat and leaving her all alone for an hour his rival was really going to kill him.

"I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," he lied.

Serenity sighed and rubbed her face.

"It's alright," she said, "Is dad home?"

"Yeah, but he's passed out," Kaiba said with a snort, "Good thing too. He's really getting on my nerves."

Serenity frowned.

"Oh," she said, "Well, I'm going to get an ice pack for my face."

Kaiba merely nodded and walked over towards the couch. As he opened up his laptop he hoped that Wheeler's sister wasn't nearly as annoying as the rest of the bunch. If she was anything like Mokuba then dealing with her would be easy enough. He really hoped he could get to the museum the next day.

_A/N: Well, two days have gone by and things are already getting bad. No surprise there. Feel free to leave a review and give me your thoughts._


	5. Solving a Dilema

_Thank you for the review_ dancing elf. _I hope you and the other readers enjoy this next chapter._

…

After spending the evening sitting on the couch with his rival's sister, Kaiba went to bed early to try and get some peace in his dreams. Serenity was a very whiny girl, going on about all these boys wanting to constantly date her and about how the divorce and almost going blind nearly traumatized her. Kaiba had to refrain from telling her to shut up, that everyone had problems and he didn't want to hear it.

A few hours after going to sleep, Kaiba was awakened by the phone ringing. He groaned and got up. He went into the living room to see Serenity holding the phone with a puzzled look.

"Joey, Kaiba's calling for you," she said.

Kaiba groaned, thinking that Wheeler had screwed something up.

"Give me the phone," he grumbled.

The red head handed it to him and went back to laying on the couch.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hey, where are you!" Joey demanded, "I've been standing at the pier for half an hour!"

"Why?" Kaiba inquired.

"For our meeting!"

Kaiba groaned.

"Is it really necessary? We already have a plan in place."

"Yeah, I know, you were going to get the scrolls from the museum! How did that go?"

"Well, there was a paint spill at the museum so it was closed. I'm going to try and go back tomorrow after school. If I can get a hold of them I'll call you and then we can schedule a meeting with Bakura."

"Okay, that sounds good," Joey said.

"Alright then, I'm going to bed," Kaiba grumbled.

"Kaiba wait!"

"What is it?"

Joey sighed, "How's my sister doing?"

"She's fine….how's Mokuba?"

"Likewise," Joey answered, "I guess I'll let you go back to sleep then."

"Alright, let me know if you have any problems."

"Okay…say Kaiba, can I ask you something?"

The now blond CEO rubbed his eyes.

"Make it quick," he ordered.

"Okay, now this is completely hypothetical: say I helped Mokuba with his homework, but instead of helping I made it to where he got an F. How would you explain that to the teacher?" Joey asked.

Kaiba's eyes widened and he could feel heat rush to his face.

"_You did what!_" he yelled.

"Ow, my ear!" Joey cried from the other line.

"You idiot! I specifically told you not to screw anything up! What else did you screw up!"

"Nothing, I swear! I was just trying to help! It's not my fault your brother can't do math…as a matter of fact, this is all _your_ fault!"

The CEO's eye started to twitch.

"How is it my fault!" he demanded.

"Clearly you haven't been helping your brother with his school work," Joey explained, with a bit of a cocky tone, "If you paid more attention to him then he would've already known that stuff."

"Are you calling me a bad brother!"

Serenity sat up and looked at the blond in concern.

"Joey, what's going on?" she asked.

Kaiba ignored the girl and continued listening to his rival on the other line.

"Well you know what they say," Joey stated, "If the shoe fits, wear it!"

"That does it! I am going to go down there and teach you a lesson! Don't move!"

Kaiba slammed the phone onto the receiver and balled up his fists. Serenity covered her mouth in horror. The blond CEO went into his rival's bedroom and started to change. The red haired girl got off the couch and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Are you okay Joey? What's going on?"

The door opened, and Kaiba stepped out wearing the best clothes his rival had: his school uniform. He looked down at the red head and snarled.

"I'm going down to the pier to teach someone some manners," he answered.

"Joey, wait, don't do this!" Serenity pleaded.

Kaiba ignored her and stepped outside, slamming the front door in the process.

…

Joey huffed as he shoved Kaiba's cell phone into the pocket of his jacket.

"Dat jerk!" he complained to nobody, "If we had just explained this to Yugi and Mokuba like I wanted this wouldn't have happened!"

Joey turned around to see a hobo looking up at him.

"Don't you agree!" he demanded.

"Do you got a quarter buddy?" the homeless man asked.

Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out his rival's wallet. He figured Kaiba probably wouldn't like anyone giving his money away, but he'd made Joey really mad. Plus the homeless man looked like he could use a good meal.

"Here, take dis and get out of here," Joey said, handing him a few bills.

The hobo's eyes lit up as he grabbed it.

"Thanks mister!"

The hobo took off running, leaving Joey standing at the pier by himself. About ten minutes passed by before someone stomped onto the scene. The young man turned around to see his former self approaching him.

"You're going to pay for what you did!" Kaiba threatened.

"Bring it on!" Joey said, balling up his fists, "…wait."

Joey looked down on his old body, and then looked at his new one. A smirk crept over his face and the blond across from him raised an eyebrow.

"We're in each other's bodies," he stated.

"Really! Did you just now figure that out?" Kaiba spat.

"Which means I'm at the advantage here," Joey said, "I'll bet you're wishing you hadn't worked out so much right now."

Kaiba gritted his teeth, cursing softly under his breath.

"Forget it," he grumbled, "I need to figure out how I'm going to set things straight with Mokuba's grades."

Joey brought his hand up to his chin and began thinking.

"Oh! I got it!" he exclaimed, "I'll just bribe the teacher!"

His rival glared at him, causing the normally bright brown eyes to look as black as the night sky.

"No!" Kaiba protested, "If Mokuba gets an A for that atrocious assignment then he'll think that whatever crackpot solution you showed him is right, and then he'll just keep screwing up. I hate to say this, but it looks like the F is going to have to stand. You'll have to tell him that you made a mistake."

Joey's mouth dropped at his rival's suggestion.

"He'll never buy that! You're one of the smartest guys in town? How could you of all people screw up?"

"Just tell him you were tired from school and work," Kaiba responded, "He'll believe that."

"Okay…so what do I do if he asks for help in the future?"

"After that F I doubt he will, but if he does just tell him you're busy and refer him to a tutor," Kaiba said.

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," Joey said, "How's things going with Serenity?"

"Uh…it's going great," Kaiba lied, "In fact, she lost a few of her baby teeth last night."

Joey nodded and grinned.

"Aww, my baby sister's growing up! Well, if you have any problems with her, just call me."

"Will do," Kaiba said, "Now let's go back home and try and get some sleep. Hopefully the museum will be open tomorrow."

"I hope so too," Joey agreed, "Well, goodnight."

Kaiba said nothing and turned around. The two boys parted ways and headed back to their houses, hoping that their nightmare would soon be over.

_A/N: Yeah, I know this was more of a filler chapter, but at least these two are finally starting to sort their problems out. Will their understanding last? Only time will tell. Let me know what you think so far._


	6. Making 'Progress'

_Thanks for the reviews everyone. Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter._

…

The following day was a Friday and the students at Domino High couldn't be happier about the approaching weekend. The day was passing by rather smoothly for Joey and Kaiba; until last period that is. Joey once again found himself in his rival's physics class, which was instructed by Mr. Crowler, a strange man with long blond hair pulled into a ponytail and make-up covering his face.

"Well students, as you know it's Friday," said Mr. Crowler. "So that means we'll be having a pop quiz!"

The students groaned as he pulled a stack of papers off his desk. Joey's heart began racing as the teacher had the students in the front row hand papers back. Luckily for him he was seated in the far back, so few could see the nervous expression on his face.

"Now then, you have fifteen minutes," Mr. Crowler announced. "Begin!"

Joey began to sweat while the other students started writing. He looked down at the paper, but everything looked foreign to him. Kaiba had been mad enough over Mokuba's failing grade; Joey was certain he'd be even more furious if his grades had been tarnished. The boy knew there was only one way out.

"OW!" Joey cried, holding onto his stomach. "My ovaries!"

Mr. Crowler, along with the other students, looked up at him. The classroom erupted into laughter while the teacher had a scowl on his face.

"What on Earth is the matter with you?" Mr. Crowler demanded.

"My stomach really hurts!" Joey cried. "I think I need to see a nurse!"

Mr. Crowler smirked.

"Very well, go have the nurse check out your 'ovaries'," he said, "but I'm sure you're just becoming a woman!"

"Thank you Mr. Crowler!"

With that Joey ran out of the now noisy room, which the teacher screamed at to quiet down.

…

After school got out Kaiba went to the museum to try and get the scrolls. It had apparently been cleaned up the night before because it was now open. Kaiba took a deep breath and entered. He stood in the entrance hall looking around for Ishizu. Not long after entering the Egyptian woman spotted him and approached him.

"Hello Joey," she greeted.

"Ishizu," Kaiba stated, then corrected himself, "Um, hi."

The woman raised an eyebrow at him but did not question his behavior.

"What brings you to the museum?" she inquired.

"I actually wanted to know if you could do me a favor," he said. "I need a few copies of some ancient Egyptian spell scrolls."

"School project?" she asked.

"Sort of," he lied.

"I wish I could help," Ishizu said, "but it's against the museum's policy to lend out artifacts."

Kaiba groaned and slouched.

"Couldn't you translate the scrolls into a notebook? I'll pay you."

"I suppose I could," Ishizu caved. "However it will be at least a week before I can have them ready."

Kaiba groaned inwardly. He didn't like the idea of being stuck in Joey's body for another week, but if he rejected her offer than he may not get out of the mess at all. Although patience was not a virtue of his, it was something he'd have to manage for the time being.

"Alright, that sounds good," he caved.

Ishizu nodded.

"I'll call when I have it ready."

"Okay, let me give you my number."

Kaiba opened up his rival's backpack and took out a sheet of paper and a pen. He held the sheet in his palm and scribbled the number down while Ishizu stood patiently. He handed her the paper and put the pen back.

"Alright then, I'll be waiting for your call. Goodbye."

As the blond turned around and walked out Ishizu watched him suspiciously. She thought that perhaps it was just her imagination, but Yugi's friend seemed off, but also a bit familiar. She shook her head and went back to her duties.

…

Across Domino City Joey sat in Kaiba's personal office playing games on the computer when the phone started to ring. He instinctively picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Kaiba, I'm sorry to interrupt you but you're supposed to be meeting with a client today."

Joey cringed and remembered what Kaiba had said to him when they laid down their ground rules. He's already screwed things up with Mokuba and he didn't want to scare away one of his rival's clients.

"I wish I could, but I'm very busy," he lied. "Call them and tell them to meet me in about a week."

"I'm afraid this can't wait," the secretary spoke. "You see, she's already at your headquarters."

Joey's eyes bulged out and nearly dropped the phone. He quickly regained his composure and tightened his grip.

"Uh…okay then. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Yes sir, I'll try and keep her comfortable in the meantime."

"Ok, thank you. Bye."

Joey hung up the phone and started to sweat uncontrollably.

"Oh man oh man, what am I gonna do!? I know! I'll call Kaiba!"

He picked the phone back up and began dialing. With the phone pressed tightly against him he waited for someone to pick up on the other line. The phone rang for a full minute but he got no response. He bit his lip and hung up.

"Oh no! This is bad! This is very, very bad!"

He looked down at himself and realized he was still in his school clothes. He bolted out of Kaiba's personal office and ran into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He opened the closet door and began rummaging through, tossing unwanted clothes aside everywhere. His nerves began to calm down as he came across a black suit with a red tie. He grinned and quickly got dressed, only to realize that he had no idea how to assemble a tie. Joey cursed as he wrestled with the long, red fabric.

"Stupid tie!" he yelled.

The frustrated boy threw the tie aside and decided to go without it. Grabbing the cell phone off the nightstand he dialed the number for the chauffeur.

"Yes sir?" the man asked on the other line.

"I need a ride to the Kaiba Corp headquarters, stat!"

"Uh…yes sir. Where might you be?"

"I'm at the mansion! Please hurry!"

Joey hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket. A light bulb went off in his head and he darted for the office.

"Briefcase, I gotta have a briefcase!"

Joey found one but wasn't sure what to pack, so he just grabbed a bunch of random papers and pencils and threw them in. The doorbell to the mansion rang, causing the already anxious boy to rush downstairs and trip. Joey bumped down a few steps before finally coming to a stop. He groaned and got back up; only to have the butler beat him to the door.

The chauffeur stood in the doorway and bowed to him.

"Your ride is ready," he announced.

Joey grabbed his briefcase and ran past him, getting into the backseat. The chauffeur followed behind him and got in, started up the limo, and took off.

…

The limo came to a stop just outside the towering building that was the Kaiba Corp headquarters. Joey's heart raced faster with each second. The chauffeur opened the door and allowed him to step out.

"Thank you Mr…uh…Jeeves."

The man frowned at him.

"You're welcome, sir."

"Uh…say, you don't happen to know where my office is, do you?"

The man's look shifted from disappointed to baffled.

"No sir, I don't."

"Oh…ok, well, thanks."

Joey ran into the building, looking around for a Kaiba Corp employee. He spotted a blue haired woman on a telephone at a desk and knew that was his best bet. As he approached her she got off the phone and looked up at him.

"Mr. Kaiba, Ms. Johnson is in your office waiting for you."

"Oh, thanks…and that would be…"

The woman raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sir, are you trying to ask me where your office is?"

"…yes."

"It's on the very top floor."

Joey smacked himself in the face.

"The top floor! Why didn't I think of that? Of course it'd be the top floor!"

He stopped and noticed he was getting very weird looks from not only the secretary, but from everyone else in the room. He glanced and straightened his posture.

"Go back to work or you're all fired!" he yelled.

The workers jumped and took their eyes off him, going back to doing their jobs. Joey tried to hide a grin and went into the elevator.

"Man, I sounded just like him," he muttered. "…I kind of scared myself."

As the elevator went up Joey began having thousands of thoughts racing through his already stressed mind. Would he make a good impression? What was the meeting even about? While Joey continued to wonder these things the elevator finally made a stop.

The teenager stepped out and entered the only room in the hall. His mouth nearly dropped open at the sight before him. A tall violet haired woman with blue eyes and a big bust sat in a chair across from Kaiba's desk. The woman heard him enter and looked up at him.

"Hello Mr. Kaiba," she greeted.

Joey began to grin.

"Hello miss," he greeted, moving towards his desk. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The woman flashed him a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine," she said. "Now then, I was hoping we could discuss the virtual pods."

The woman crossed her legs and Joey's eyes followed.

"As you know," she said, "my company specializes in shooting style games. Recently we've designed our consoles to where gamers can interact online, but we think it's time to give our customers are more hands on experience. All we require is the rights to your virtual pod products so we can adjust them to suit our needs."

Joey's mouth became agape. If the woman's beauty hadn't been tempting enough, the prospect of a hands on action adventure game made resistance even more futile. He may not have been as smart as Kaiba or trained by a businessman, but he knew a good investment when he saw one.

"Ms. Johnson, you have a deal."

The woman smiled, a wave of relief washing over her face.

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba. I'll be back tomorrow with my lawyers so we can make the necessary arrangements."

"Sounds good. How's three 'o clock sound?"

"That sounds great. Looking forward to it."

"Me too," Joey agreed. "See you then."

_A/N: And thus Joey makes his first business deal. How will things go with this? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Tell me what you think about this chapter and the story so far. _


	7. Armed and Moody

Late that Friday Joey received a call on his cell phone. He noticed it vibrating as he sat down at Kaiba's desk and saw that someone from his house was calling. He knew that it was probably Kaiba, which meant either the news was really good or really bad. Joey immediately answered it, hoping the news was good.

"Hello?"

"I went to the museum today, and I've got Ishizu working on getting me some scrolls," Kaiba spoke.

Even though it had been several days it was still weird for Joey to be hearing his rival talk to him with his voice. He figured it was probably even weirder for Kaiba.

"That's great!" Joey exclaimed. "Hopefully this mess will be over with soon. Did she say how long it'd be?"

"It'll be at least a week."

Joey groaned and slouched in his chair.

"Well, dat's better than nothing."

A knock interrupted him at the office door.

"Seto, it's me!" Mokuba announced from the outside.

"Come on in!" Joey called.

Kaiba began talking again as Mokuba entered the room.

"How's he doing?" he asked.

"Oh, he's doing great. He's really bringing his grades up…how's Serenity?...That's good. Okay, I'm gonna let you go…bye."

"Who was that?" Mokuba asked as Joey hung up.

"Oh…uh…wrong number."

The younger Kaiba brother raised an eyebrow but decided to let the incident go.

"Hey, I signed up for basketball today, and we're having our first game Friday!"

"Really,_ you_ got picked—I meant that's great!"

Mokuba cocked his head, but yet again decided to let that comment go.

"So do you think you can make it?"

"As long as nothing comes up," Joey answered.

Mokuba sighed and looked down at the floor.

"Oh, of course," he muttered.

Joey groaned inwardly. Even though he and Mokuba weren't what you'd call 'best friends' he still hated the see the look of disappointment on his face.

"Tell you what; I'll book my schedule for your game Friday. If something else comes up, I'll just put those things off."

The younger Kaiba gasped and twinkles filled his eyes.

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I do. Now, it's almost your bed time. Go brush your teeth."

"Thanks big brother! You're the best!"

Joey grinned to himself as he watched the raven haired boy leave the room.

"A business deal and a sibling deal in one night. I'm on a roll!"

…

The following day Kaiba sat around in the living room of his rival's apartment. He'd set his laptop on the coffee table and was about the check stocks when he heard a high pitched shriek coming from the bathroom. Kaiba instinctively shot up and rushed to the door, knocking.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Joey, I'm…um…" Serenity drawled.

"You're what? Are you injured?"

"I'm uh…out of tampons."

"Oh…OH!"

Even though he'd never lived with a female (aside from maids, but they didn't count) he'd taken health class the previous year. Even though he'd cut out of the sex education day early by getting into a fist fight with Tea he had learned a little bit about the female body. He was grateful that he didn't have a sister growing up with him.

"Joey, can you run to the store and get me some?"

"Uh…sure. I'll be back as soon as I can."

So he grabbed his wallet and bolted out the door, heading for the nearest store.

…

Five minutes had passed and Kaiba stood in the aisle of a small grocery store. Aside from himself the only people inside were the clerk and a biker guy looking at soda. Considering that Kaiba was standing before the feminine products he was grateful that there weren't a lot of people around. Even though he wasn't even in his own body he still couldn't help but feel awkward.

"Hm, let's see…this one says 'super' so it must be really good…I'll just go with that one."

Kaiba quickly grabbed the box and headed to the register. The biker guy cut in front of him and whipped out a gun. The clerk screeched and raised his hands into the air.

"GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!"

"O-Okay, just t-take it easy!" the clerk stuttered.

Kaiba looked out the window and saw a cop standing across the street. The cop was talking to someone and laughing, being completely oblivious to what was going on across from him. Kaiba rolled his eyes and set the tampons aside.

"I don't have time for this," he grumbled.

He picked up a nearby hotdog rotary case and slammed it against the man's head. The man dropped his gun and fell onto his side, becoming unresponsive. The clerk looked down at the man and then back up at Kaiba, who merely grumbled and picked up the box of tampons.

"This will be it," he stated, putting them on the counter.

"Y-You saved my life!"

"Yes, now could you please ring these up so I can go?"

"Hold on."

The clerk picked up the phone and began dialing.

"Yes, a man just tried robbing my store again…yes, the 24/7 Mart on Brooklyn Street. He's unconscious on the floor. A brave young man knocked him out and saved my life…alright, thank you!"

The clerk hung up and looked back up at Kaiba.

"You can have those on the house, and a free Slurpie!"

The cop from across the street entered the shop. He looked at the two men and then at the ground where the would-be thief was lying unconscious. He raised a finger at Kaiba.

"Are you the one who stopped him?" he asked.

"Yes, now I have to get going."

"Hold on young man; I'll need you to make a statement so we can lock this guy up."

Kaiba groaned and looked at his watch.

"Serenity's not going to like this."

…

Joey went downstairs into the living room where Mokuba sat on the couch watching TV. As he turned to go into the kitchen the young Kaiba spoke up and pointed at the TV screen.

"Seto, Joey's on the news!"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Joey looked towards the TV in complete and utter shock. He saw the image of himself standing in front of a small shop next to a man wearing a nametag. There were several cop cars in the background as well as reporter vans. The blond boy gripped a box of tampons as he stared into the camera.

"Tampons? Oh Lord!" Joey exclaimed.

A reporter stood beside the blond with a microphone in hand.

"Just several minutes ago this store was almost robbed by an armed and dangerous man. These two were the only ones present at the time and this young man stopped the robber and saved the clerk's life. Mr. Wheeler, were you scared of what possible outcomes there might have been?"

"Not really," 'Joey' stated. "I've taken on bigger guys."

Joey turned red and clenched his fists while Mokuba continued watching the news in awe.

"An _armed_ guy? Dat idiot could've gotten killed!"

Mokuba took his eyes off the TV to face him.

"I know! Joey was _so_ lucky!" he agreed. "But, I still don't understand why he's holding tampons."

Joey growled and stomped back towards the stairs.

"I'm gonna call him up!" he growled.

"Geez Seto, why are you taking this so personally? I mean, you don't even like Joey."

Joey stopped halfway up the stairs, clenching the railings. He tried to think up an excuse—something that Kaiba would say in a situation like this.

"Because Mokuba, somebody has to put that mutt in line."

Hairs stood up on the back of Joey's neck. He was used to hearing that particular phrase in that particular voice, but hearing it pass through his own lips was unsettling. With that in mind and with what could've happened at the store Joey hoped more than ever that the situation could soon be fixed.

…

Kaiba arrived back at the apartment about an hour after he'd left. The apartment was pitch black when he entered, which was odd because he'd left the lights on. He grumbled and flipped the switch by the door.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."

Kaiba looked over at the couch where Serenity was sitting with her arms crossed.

"Do you know how long I waited?" she asked.

"Uh…"

"An hour! I asked you to do something important for me and you kept me waiting; just like with the train station and just like with my eye surgery!"

"I'm sorry, but I have them now."

With that Kaiba tossed the box towards her. She caught it and examined them with a frown.

"Um, Joey, these are way too big for me."

"Do you have any idea what I went through to get those?" Kaiba snapped. "I had to stand around in a filthy store and witnessed an attempted robbery! I could've gotten shot by that maniac all because you forgot to buy some tampons! And now when I bring you what you need you decide it's not good enough for you?"

Tears swelled up in Serenity's eyes.

"Joey…I…I…"

"I'm sick of listening to your whining! It's time for you to grow up and take responsibility!"

The yelling was interrupted by the phone. Kaiba growled and picked it up off the hook.

"Wheeler residence," Kaiba said.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Joey screamed on the other line, causing Kaiba to hold the phone away from his ear. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN KILLED! NEXT TIME YOU PULL A STUPID STUNT LIKE THAT YOU SHOULD DO IT IN YOUR OWN BODY!"

Kaiba growled and brought the phone back up to him, ignoring Serenity's sobbing.

"What was I supposed to do? Was I just supposed to stand around and give him the chance to come after me? I did the best I could out of a bad situation."

"…Kaiba, why do I hear crying?"

The boy's eyes widened as he turned to look at Serenity. Tears streamed down her face and she got off the couch and ran into the bathroom, letting the door slam behind her.

"It's nothing, your sister and I just had a small spat."

"WHAT? DID YOU MAKE HER CRY? I SWEAR IF I-"

"Hey, she snapped at me first! Okay, so it might've taken me an hour to get her some tampons, but I tried!"

"YOU BETTER APOLOGIZE TO HER OR I'LL COME DOWN THERE MYSELF AND PUT YOU IN DA HOSPITAL!"

"You'd really ruin your own body like that?"

"It doesn't matter, cuz if I do injure my body I'm not the one that's going to be feeling it Kaiba!"

Kaiba took a deep breath and thought.

"Okay, I'll apologize, but once we get back in our own bodies you really need to put her in counseling or something. It would benefit everyone."

Kaiba hung up on the phone and sighed. He took a few steps towards the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Go away Joey!"

"_So stubborn,"_ Kaiba thought_. "Must be a Wheeler trait."_

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. We were both in a bad mood and just lost it. I'll try to control my temper from now on, alright?"

Kaiba heard sniffles through the door. Seconds later the door opened and Serenity wrapped her arms around him. Kaiba stiffened and reluctantly returned a very brief hug.

"I'm sorry too Joey."

Kaiba let go of her and gently pushed her away.

"Good. Now, let's watch TV."

Serenity smiled and nodded. She sat down on the couch as Kaiba got out his laptop. After yet another hectic day there was finally a moment of peace.

_A/N: Oh Kaiba, always attacking armed men. One of these days he's going to get himself killed. Let me know what you think so far. _


	8. Things Heat Up

_Thanks for the review_ dancing elf. _I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this. I guess that's what happens when you work on four different stories. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter._

…

The rest of the weekend went by rather slowly. While Joey continued making a business deal with the head of the VSphere company Kaiba was being dragged around town by Serenity and being cornered by Joey's family, friends and complete strangers congratulating him for taking down the robber. Needless to say Kaiba was glad when Monday came and he was back in school. The closer they got to Friday, in his opinion, the better.

Kaiba shared cooking class with Yugi and Miho. For perhaps the first time since the ordeal began he was grateful that he wasn't in his own body, due to Miho's obsession with him. The three sat at a table by themselves while the other kids bugged Kaiba for an autograph. They finally stopped when the teacher entered the room and cleared her throat.

"Today each table will be making their own cake!"Mrs. Gina instructed. "Use the recipes from your book and get started!"

A look of horror flashed over Kaiba's face while the other kids cheered. Yugi and Miho were oblivious to his reaction and stood up, walking over towards the counter and a stove. Kaiba sighed and reluctantly followed the two. Kaiba stood before the oven with his arms crossed. To his right Miho was gathering flour, sugar and baking powder while Yugi stood at the fridge getting milk, butter, vanilla extract and eggs.

The now blond CEO hated to admit it, but he was in a bit of a pickle. Because he grew up with a bunch of servants to do everything for him and his brother he lacked certain skills. The sad truth was that Seto Kaiba had no idea how to cook. He'd never learned how and he'd never attempted it.

"Okay," Yugi said, setting down the supplies, "Joey, go get the measuring tools."

"Uh…okay," Kaiba responded.

He glanced at the sheet to see what he needed: 1 cup, ½ cup, 2 teaspoons and 1 and ¾ teaspoon. He turned around and began looking at the other students' workstations to see what tools they had. He spotted what looked like a black plastic spoon and what looked like weird shaped spoons with big round things attached at the ends. He began looking through the cupboards and drawers for items that resembled those and found them. After gathering them he went back to his work station.

"Okay," Yugi said, "We need to cream together the sugar and butter. Joey, you measure and Miho will mix."

"Miho loves baking!" Miho cheered.

"Yeah, okay," Kaiba said, grabbing the measuring cups.

He measured out the sugar and butter and put them in the bowl. Miho creamed them and Kaiba grabbed the next ingredient: eggs. He then picked up the eggs and noticed how hard they felt. He hesitated for a moment.

"Are you supposed to put these in whole?" he asked.

"No Joey," Yugi sighed, "You have to break them open."

"Oh, okay."

Kaiba tapped the eggs against the top of the counter, causing them to break awkwardly. He tried in frustration to tear them apart with his fingers while Miho and Yugi watched from the sidelines.

"Joey, you're being too forceful. Here, let me do it," Yugi offered.

"I can break open an egg, thank you!" Kaiba hissed.

Finally prying them apart, Kaiba held them over the bowl and let the yolks pour in. He then put in the vanilla extract and stepped aside. The blue haired girl picked out some shells that had gotten in and began mixing. Miho and Kaiba continued working back and forth until the mix was ready. Yugi poured it into a pan and put it in the oven.

"Okay, it'll be half an hour. In the meantime we can sit back down and catch up on homework," Yugi said.

"Finally," Kaiba muttered.

…

Back at the Kaiba mansion Joey sat at Kaiba's computer trying to access adult sites. However he couldn't access them because Kaiba had put a block on the sites.

"Ah man!" Joey whined. "This sucks!"

Since he wasn't very computer savvy he had no idea how to disable the parental controls. Calling Kaiba and asking him was also out of the question since he was at school, and he doubted any of the staff members or servants knew.

An idea suddenly came to him and he grinned at his genius. If we wanted to know something all he'd have to do is look it up.

Joey began typing furiously into the search bar and hit enter. A list of sites came up and he clicked on one and began reading the listed instructions.

"This seems easy enough," he muttered.

He began following the instructions and soon enough he managed to disable the controls. After doing this he went onto a dirty site to see if it worked, and it did.

"Woo hoo! I'm a computer whiz!"

As he clicked on a video to begin downloading a box popped up. The box said something about a security intrusion and something else started downloading onto the computer. Joey panicked and tried to stop it but wasn't fast enough, and the computer automatically shut off.

"Well…that can't be good," he said.

…

Half an hour had passed and the egg timers went off throughout the kitchen. Each group got up and went to their respective ovens. Yugi put on oven-mits and pulled the pan out, then froze as he looked at it.

"Wow, this didn't rise right," he commented.

"Did we cook it long enough?" Miho asked.

"I think so," Yugi said, looking around the room. "Everyone else's seems to be fine. It also looks like it overflowed a little in the oven. I don't get it; we followed the recipe to a T."

Yugi and Miho looked over at Kaiba, who had his arms crossed and was frowning.

"You added the right amount of everything, right?" Yugi asked.

"Of course I did! I know how to read!"

"Hm, it almost looks like it had too much baking powder," Miho said, looking at the mess in the oven. "You added just one and three-fourths of a teaspoon, right?"

Kaiba growled and picked up the measuring spoons he'd used.

"Yes, I used these!"

Yugi squinted to get a better look at them and then widened his eyes.

"Oh, that explains it. Joey, you grabbed the Tablespoons."

"Tablespoons?" Kaiba asked.

"Yeah, the ones with the big T are the Tablespoons and the ones with the little T are the teaspoons," Yugi explained. "So that's it then: the mix got too much baking powder."

Kaiba growled and looked down. That was perhaps the first time he ever failed in something, outside of Duel Monsters. Yet again he was grateful to be in Joey's body, because if he'd gotten an F in his own class he'd be humiliated.

"Well, this isn't going to taste very good," Yugi said with a sigh.

Mrs. Gina walked over to the trio as Yugi put the cake down on the counter. She adjusted her glasses and looked at it in surprise.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We accidentally put in too much baking powder," Yugi spoke up.

"My, you three are usually great at this," Mrs. Gina said.

Kaiba cringed at the phrase 'you three'. That meant the mutt was good at baking. A chill went through Kaiba's spine as he realized that Wheeler was better than him at something. No wonder Yugi didn't walk him through it!

"Well, I have no choice but to give you a D on the cake, but I'd still like you to work on the frosting tomorrow," she then turned to face Kaiba. "By the way, good job on taking down the robber."

The dismissal bell rang and the other kids put their cakes in the refrigerator and left. Yugi, Miho and Kaiba threw their cake away and headed off.

…

Back at the Kaiba mansion one of the Kaiba Corp. technicians had come out to try and fix the Kaiba's personal computer. Joey stood off to the side nervously while the man sat at the desk trying to figure out how to fix the machine.

"It's unusual that a virus managed to get past the antivirus software. What exactly were you doing?"

Joey bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, I was trying to watch a video."

"Hm, did you accidentally disable the security settings?"

"Uh…maybe."

"Hm. Well let me see what I can do."

Joey heard footsteps in the hallway and the knob to the door turn. He looked over to see the youngest Kaiba enter the room, carrying a backpack.

"Hey Seto, I…" he trailed off as he looked at the scene before him. "What's wrong with the computer?"

"It has a virus," Joey answered.

"A virus? How'd that happen?"

"I…uh…I accidentally disabled the security settings."

"Oh man! Can it be fixed?"

"I'm working on it," the technician spoke up.

Suddenly a ringing sound broke out. Joey looked down and reached into his pocket, pulling out the cell phone. He flipped it open and brought it up to him, hoping it wasn't bad news.

"Hello?" he answered.

"It's me," Kaiba said from the other line. "I'm just checking up on how things are going."

Joey cringed and looked back and forth between Mokuba and the computer.

"Hold on a second," he said, then headed for the door. He left the personal office and went into Kaiba's bedroom and locked the door. "Uh, things are going fine over here. Just fine. How are things with you?"

"It sure doesn't sound fine," Kaiba hissed. "Did you screw something up?"

"Uh…sort of, but it's no big deal."

"Tell me what you did!"

"Okay, fine! Your personal computer got a little virus and now there's a technician working on it."

"A technician working on my personal computer? Just great!"

"What's the big deal?" Joey asked. "It's not like it's going to cost anything."

"That's not the point," Kaiba said. "I'm supposed to be a mechanical genius, remember? If word gets out that I can't even fix my own computer…"

"Look, this problem is pretty small compared to that stunt you pulled at the store! And for your information I have good news too!"

Kaiba sighed.

"Well, what is it?" he asked.

"I just made a business deal with the head of the VSphere company! We're going to supply them with virtual pods for their games!"

"WHAT?"

Joey yelped and pulled the phone away from his ear. After a few seconds he brought it back over to him.

"What's the big idea? I just helped your company out!"

"I told you not to do anything without asking me!" Kaiba yelled. "I know nothing about this company!"

"Will you relax for two seconds? They're a gaming company, just like yours! Besides, now you'll be getting extra money, and it's not like you were using those pods anyway!"

Kaiba growled on the other line, causing Joey's temper to flare up more.

"You know what? I don't think you're mad: I think you're jealous!"

Kaiba snorted.

"Jealous of you? Please Wheeler!"

"No, I really think you are! I know nothing about computers or business and I'm taking Kaiba Corp into a better direction! Right now all you focus on is Duel Monsters, but with my deals the company will cover more gaming industries!"

"It's not your company Wheeler!"

"No, but it should be!"

A knock at the door interrupted Joey.

"Seto, is everything okay in there?" Mokuba asked through the door.

"It's just fine," Joey answered. "I'm just trying to reason with this idiot is all."

"IDIOT? That does it Wheeler! When we get back in our old bodies I'm going kick your ass!"

"Fine, but when Kaiba Corp gets even more money you'll be thanking me!"

Before Kaiba could yell some more Joey hung up. He put the phone back in his pocket and unlocked the door. As he headed back to the private office the technician came out looking quite satisfied.

"I managed the fix the computer Mr. Kaiba. Next time you disable the parental controls you should make sure the security wall is still up."

"Will do. Thanks."

Joey smiled and went back to the desk as the man left. Mokuba stared at who he thought was his older brother and grinned.

"Disabled the parental controls huh?" he asked.

Joey stopped as he went to sit down and looked up at Mokuba. The younger Kaiba boy crossed his arms and continued smirking. Joey frowned and finished sitting down.

"Don't worry Seto; your secret is safe with me. I still think you need a girlfriend though."

With that Mokuba left the room, leaving Joey by himself.

"It's not what you think!" Joey yelled. "Honest!"

"Whatever you say!"

Joey groaned and slouched in his chair.

"Kaiba's really going to kill me," he remarked.

_A/N: I think this is probably the longest chapter I've done so far. Poor Kaiba: he sucks at baking and now Mokuba thinks he's a pervert. Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think so far. _


	9. Raised Concerns

_Thanks for the reviews_ Anjanie _and_ dancing elf. _I apologize for the long delay. The next chapter for this story should arrive a lot sooner, but I'm not going to make any promises in case something happens (like another virus. Why am I a virus magnet?). Anyway this chapter is going to be a little more serious, but I hope everyone can still enjoy it. Now, onto the story._

…

Several days had passed since Joey and Kaiba's argument. The two had become so infuriated with one another that the check up calls stopped completely, leaving each of them to figure things out on their own. It had become too much for Joey to see his friends and not be able to interact with them, so he decided to stop going to school and imprison himself within the Kaiba mansion. Eventually he grew tired of the computer games and tried finding new ways to entertain himself; such as buying new cards and trying a huge variety of foods.

On Kaiba's end things continued to cause him irritation. On top of having to pretend he cared about Joey's sister and putting up with their alcoholic father he was pestered by the 'geek squad' and given school work that proved to be no challenge for him. Early that week Tristan had brought up how Joey used to work for the paper route, which sparked an idea. To get away from Joey's annoying family and also to give him something to do he decided to get a job.

Finding the right job for the former CEO was a bit of a challenge. It wasn't that people didn't want to hire him (who wouldn't want to hire someone who took down a robber?) but Kaiba had a hard time finding one to his liking.

"_Alright,"_ Kaiba thought to himself, browsing through the newspaper as he sat at a lunchroom table, _"where in Domino can I find a decent job with Wheeler's qualifications?"_

He had been so caught up in his search that he failed to notice Yugi and the others sitting down by him.

"Hey Joey, what's with the paper?" Tristan asked.

Kaiba scowled, though nobody could see it. He tensed up and brought the paper closer to his face.

"Looking for a job."

"Look man, I know money's tight but should you really be working after school with the kind of grades you make?" Tristan challenged.

"Actually his grades are probably going up," Tea pointed out. "He's been getting A's on all his tests lately."

"Really? That's great!" Yugi cheered. "When we get our report cards we should all celebrate."

"Yeah, uh huh," Kaiba remarked.

Tristan crossed his arms and let out a scoff.

"What's with the attitude lately? You're acting like you're miles away."

"It's nothing, I'm fine."

The tone of his response caused Yugi and the girls to frown.

"You know you can talk to us if something's wrong," Yugi said.

Miho nodded and joined in.

"That's right, we're your friends; we'll understand."

"I said I'm fine!"

Kaiba had stood up out of his seat and slammed the paper onto the table, causing not only his rival's friends but also nearby students to become stunned into silence. Yugi and the others instinctively leaned back, not wanting to get too close. Letting out a growl Kaiba snatched up the paper and walked off, leaving his tray of untouched nuggets behind. Only when he left the lunchroom did the normal chitter-chatter of the students resume.

"Did we say something wrong?" Miho wondered.

"I don't know," Tristan responded, crossing his arms. "He's been acting weird for a while now. You'd think with his sister being around that he'd be in a better mood."

"Maybe Serenity and their dad aren't getting along," Yugi suggested.

"Oh man, I didn't even think about that!" Tristan said as he relaxed his arms. "But, I've bumped into her at the park and store a few times and she seemed fine."

"Well you know how Serenity is: she holds in a lot," Tea pointed out.

"Maybe we should go over and visit," Miho suggested.

Tristan, Tea and Yugi cringed at the thought.

"I don't know about that," Tristan said. "Remember what happened last time we showed up uninvited? I'd rather not have another bottle chucked at my head."

"Well we can call Serenity ahead of time," Yugi stated. "I say we go over after school; just long enough to see if everything's okay."

Tristan let out a sigh.

"Alright then, sounds like a plan," he agreed.

…

"Big brother, I'm home!"

Mokuba had finally arrived home after yet another intensive day of school. As he let the front door slam shut behind him he began unbuttoning his uniform jacket. From a distance the faint sound of roaring and laughter could be heard. Mokuba raised a brow at the strange noise.

"Big brother?"

The youngest Kaiba got no response, so he decided to go forth and investigate. He walked through the main hallway on the first floor, going closer towards the back where the sound seemed to be coming from. By the time he reached the back door the sound had intensified. Mokuba cautiously opened the door and peeked outside.

Standing on the back patio was a giant rock creature down on its knees with its arms guarding its body. Behind this monster was one of the maids at the mansion, who had a duel disk attached to her arm. Mokuba's eyes shifted to his right where he saw his older brother standing behind a blue, armored creature.

"I-I end my turn," the maid declared.

"My move!"

Joey drew a card. He couldn't help but beam with a smile when he saw what card he had drawn.

"I activate the magic card Raigeki to destroy your Soldier of Stone!"

Bolts of lightning crashed down upon the monster, destroying it instantly. The maid held up her arms to shield herself from the waves of force, cringing as she watched her only defense be destroyed.

"And that's not all! I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse and use his special ability to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The armored creature evaporated and was instantly replaced with Kaiba's legendary dragon.

"Alright Blue Eyes, attack!"

The dragon launched a ball of energy at the unguarded woman, causing her to cry out. The rest of her lifepoints vanished, leaving Joey the victor.

"Yes! Great job Seto!" Mokuba cheered.

"Now that's what I call a duel!" Joey said. "Alright Ms. Smith, you can finish cleaning up the bathroom."

The woman removed the duel disk and ran back inside, leaving the two boys alone. Joey turned to look at Mokuba and smiled.

"Hello Mokuba."

"Hey Seto, you're dueling the maids now?"

"Yeah, I got bored."

"So why didn't you just go to school?"

Joey's smile faded.

"I…I just didn't feel like it."

"Hm. Well, at least tomorrow you'll have something to do!"

"Huh? Like what?"

Mokuba frowned.

"My game," the small boy answered.

"Oh that's right, tomorrow's Friday…wait, Friday is tomorrow?"

"Um, yeah."

"Aw crap! I completely lost track of da calendar!"

Mokuba narrowed his eyes. He noticed his brother had been acting weird, but now he was talking funny? Between that, skipping school and dueling with the maids Mokuba couldn't help but think that his brother was slowly starting to go insane. Maybe the pressures of being a teenage CEO was finally starting to get to him.

"Uh, Seto, are you feeling alright? You've been acting kind of weird lately."

Joey bit his lip. He knew that sooner or later his cover would be blown, but he'd really hoped that everything would be sorted out before it came to that.

"Uh, no, I'm fine. Just fine."

"Oh…okay then. I'm…I'm just going to go to my room and do my homework."

With that Mokuba retreated back into the mansion, leaving Joey outside by himself. As soon as he was alone Joey lost his cool and started to panic.

"Oh man! I knew it would happen sooner or later; he's onto me! Oh man this is bad! I gotta call Kaiba!"

Joey shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out Kaiba's cell phone, dialing as quickly as he could. He brought his other hand up to his face and started biting his nails, waiting for the other line to pick up.

…

Kaiba had finally gone back to the Wheeler apartment after a brief job hunt. The only place nearby that was open was a burger joint, and there was no way Seto frieking Kaiba was going to flip burgers. He decided to relax for a bit before starting his hunt again.

He entered the apartment and came face to face with unwanted guests. Sitting in the living room was Yugi, Tristan, Tea and Miho, along with Serenity. The five looked up at him, confused by the foul look on his face.

"Oh, hey Joey," Serenity said. "You're back early."

"Uh, yeah. Hey guys."

"Hey, sorry for dropping in like this," Yugi apologized. "We just wanted to make sure that everything's okay."

"Well as you can see everything's fine," Kaiba said. "Serenity's safe, dad's at work or at the bar and this place is probably the cleanest it's ever been. Everything is just perfect."

"So why are you acting like it's not?"

Kaiba's eyes darted towards Serenity. The red haired girl looked down for a split second.

"Ever since I got here you've been acting very tense. You're not laid back like you usually are and you've hardly interacted with me."

Before he could respond the phone started to ring. Kaiba let out a sigh and walked over to pick it up.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Kaiba, I think your brother's onto me. What do I do?"

He let out a groan. This was the worst possible time to be getting a call from his enemy.

"Can you call back later? I'm in the middle of something."

"Who is it?" Tea inquired.

Kaiba ignored her and continued talking to Joey.

"Listen, I'll call you back when my hands aren't full."

"Okay," Joey said. "I guess I can handle things until then."

"You better. Bye."

As soon as he hung up the phone started to ring again. He let out a groan, hoping it wasn't something bad.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hello Joey," Ishizu replied. "I'm just calling to let you know that the translations are complete."

Kaiba felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. Finally, this nightmare was over.

"You can come down here anytime and pick them up."

"Great. Thank you very much Ishizu. Bye."

"Ishizu? Why was she calling?" Yugi asked as Kaiba hung up.

Kaiba stared blankly for a moment as he thought up a lie.

"Oh, she was translating some scripts for me for a project."

Yugi and the others, save for Serenity, stared back in obvious confusion.

"Project? What project?" Tea asked.

"Oh, I think I get it," Tristan spoke up. "Joey must be doing an extra credit project for history. He was telling me last week that he was failing."

"Uh, yeah, that's right," Kaiba agreed. "Anyway I need to head down to the museum."

"Oh, we can come with you," Yugi offered.

"Yeah, it could be fun," Serenity agreed.

Kaiba was about to tell them no when the front door opened. He looked over to see Mr. Wheeler walk in, carrying a lunchbox. The man saw the group of kids and scowled.

"What the hell is this? Am I babysitting the whole damn neighborhood?"

"Uh, we were just leaving," Kaiba said. "Come on, let's go."

Mr. Wheeler stepped into the kitchen, allowing the herd of teenagers to run outside.

"_Great,"_ Kaiba thought as he ran down the steps, _"now I'm stuck with the geek squad. At least I won't have to deal with this much longer."_

_A/N: So the story appears to be coming to a close, but don't worry; things are not always as they seem. I'm going to start on the next chapter immediately so I can post it as soon as possible. Feel free to give your feedback._


	10. Friday Night Madness

_Thanks for the reviews everyone. This chapter took longer to write than I thought it would. For those of you who wish to leave a review or post comments asking questions I must ask you to log into your account first. I can not reply back to you if you're not logged in. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter._

…

Joey and Kaiba were in exceptionally good moods that Friday. They had finally gotten translated scripts of spells and planned to give them to the Thief Bakura at school, since they hadn't been able to find him Thursday night. After a long day of charades they were able to confront him just outside the janitor's closet, where the thief was hanging out with Marik. The two troublemakers stopped talking and turned to face Joey and Kaiba with a scowl.

"So, did you two nitwits finally get what I asked for?" the thief asked.

Kaiba responded by pulling the scrolls out of his pocket. He handed them over to the thief, who immediately began looking over them.

"There, satisfied? Now will you hurry up and switch us back already?" Kaiba barked.

The thief looked up at him with a frown.

"I would if you'd given me the right spells! These are completely useless to me!"

"WHAT?" Kaiba yelled.

"You can't be serious!" Joey cried.

"I'm quite serious!" the thief said, holding the sheets up for them to see. "These are for sissies! What I've got here is love spells, body image spells and countless other useless spells! The only one that might do me some good is the one that changes weather."

Joey growled and pulled on his hair. He couldn't believe that after all that time and effort that they hadn't even gotten the right scrolls. He thought for sure that Kaiba would've gotten it right.

"So what are we supposed to give ya?" Joey asked.

"I need dark spells. You know, spells for evil purposes? Do I really have to explain this to you two?"

"Look, why don't I just pay you and you can buy some spells from some Goth kids?" Kaiba suggested.

The thief rolled his eyes while Marik let out a snort.

"Please, those kids aren't all they're cracked up to be," the thief stated. "Sure, they might wear black and have pentagrams but when you summon a real demon in front of them they wet their pants just like anyone else."

Joey shuddered at the thought of seeing something like that. Kaiba however was not intimidated.

"You know what?" the now blond CEO decided, "We don't need your help! We'll find some other way to fix this!"

With that he turned around and stormed off, leaving Joey by himself. Joey's mouth dropped in appall as he watched Kaiba walk off. He cringed and returned his attention to the thief, then dropped onto his knees.

"Please switch me back!" he pleaded, inching towards the Yami. "I'll do anything! Anything!"

The thief jumped back in disgust.

"Get off my shoes! I'll switch you back as soon as you bring me what I want! Now get out of my sight!"

As the evil spirit of the Ring walked off Joey brought his head up and looked at Marik.

"Marik, we're on good terms now. Can't you help me out?"

"I'd like to, but I have no idea how to switch souls. I could try, but I might accidentally kill you."

Marik saw the distraught expression on Joey's face and let out a sigh.

"Look, I hate to say it but you'll probably just have to do what the spirit asks. I could try and help out, somehow."

Immediately the pain disappeared from the boy's face and his eyes lit up.

"You'd do that? But, I thought you wanted to get even with Kaiba."

"Yeah, but I figure he's probably suffered enough. If you need any help give me a call."

"Uh, ok. Thanks Marik!"

The Egyptian boy gave a curtly nod and followed behind the ancient spirit. After getting back onto his feet Joey raced down the walkway until he met up with his old body.

"So Kaiba, what's the plan?"

His arch enemy stopped walking and looked down.

"Honestly, I'm still thinking of one."

"Well, Marik said he'd be willing to help in whatever we decide to do."

Kaiba crossed his arms and tried to think. After a moment of contemplating an idea struck him. He uncrossed his arms and turned to look at Joey.

"Remember when we were all trapped in Noah's virtual world and he and the big five attempted to take over our bodies?"

"Boy, who can forget a thing like dat?"

"Well, we can hook ourselves up to some of the pods and Kaiba Corp. and switch back."

As quickly as Joey started to smile the grin disappeared from his face. Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

"What's the problem?" he demanded.

"Uh, well, that sounds like a great idea," Joey said, "but, your company doesn't own the pods anymore."

"WHAT?"

"I sold the rights to VSphere, remember? They've got them now."

Kaiba let out a growl and kicked a nearby can.

"Just great; the only chance we had and it's gone! Where is this company?"

Joey shrugged, causing more frustration for Kaiba.

"Did you do _any_ research on this company before you signed the contract?"

"Uh, well…the owner's name is Andrea Johnson."

The other boy crossed his arms and looked down.

"Hm, that name sounds vaguely familiar," Kaiba stated.

Joey grimaced upon hearing this. Usually anybody that Kaiba was acquainted with was nothing but bad news. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

"So, um, what should we do?" Joey asked.

As he uncrossed his arms Kaiba let out a sigh. Their only two options at the moment were to either sneak into the VSphere Company so they could use the pods, or, break into the museum so they could get the spells. Either option wasn't very good.

"I'll need time to think things through," he answered. "I guess we'll have to keep this charade going just a little bit longer."

Joey nodded and spoke.

"Well, all I gotta do tonight is go to your brother's game, so there's really no chance of me screwing things up. You however…"

"However what?"

"Uh, you got dat date with Mai."

A scowl appeared on Kaiba's face as he tensed up.

"I know you don't care for her, but you gotta be nice," Joey said.

"Can't I just cancel?"

"You've really never dated before, have ya? You can't just cancel on the night of the date, especially not when she's been looking forward to it for two weeks."

"Isn't she in her twenties? Is it even legal for you two to be dating?"

"Technically I'm an adult," Joey confessed. "I stayed back in seventh grade."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Joey balled up his fists and gritted his teeth.

"_Anyway_, Mai will pick you up around five. She'll be paying for everything but I still want you to show her a good time. I'm going to be nice to your brother so I expect the same courtesy from you moneybags."

"Alright, I think I can manage that. I'll call you tomorrow so we can discuss a plan. Hopefully we won't have to do anything illegal."

"I hope not either, but, if we have to we'll have to."

"Alright. We should get going then. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too. Remember: don't screw anything up!"

Kaiba said nothing and turned around. The two boys parted ways, both of them anxious and nervous about what laid in store for them.

…

The clock struck five. While Joey and Mokuba were getting into the back of the company limo Kaiba sat on the Wheeler's couch, dressed in Joey's best clothes (which still didn't meet up to Kaiba's standards). Mr. Wheeler was in town, probably at a bar, and Serenity was standing by the microwave waiting for her noodles to finish cooking.

"I'm so glad you and Mai are going out," she said. "I think you two are perfect for each other."

"You can say that again," Kaiba remarked.

The beeping of the microwave drowned out Kaiba's sarcastic quip. As Serenity grabbed her noodles there was a knock at the front door. Kaiba took a deep breath and got off the couch. By the time he reached the door his heart was pounding.

"_Relax, it's just Mai,"_ he told himself. _"You can do this. She's not going to bite."_

When he finally got the door open he was faced with the busty blonde. Mai was very beautiful, that he could admit, but he just had an aching feeling that she was going to annoy him to no end. The fact that he was in the body of an annoying teenager made it even more likely that she'd put her loud-mouthed personality on full display.

"Hey Joey," she greeted with a smile. "You look unusually clean."

"That's because I showered today," he stated, unsure of what Joey's regular hygiene habits were. "You look…good."

"Thanks. So, you ready to go?"

Kaiba felt something pushing against him from behind. He turned his head to see that Serenity had run up to the door and was trying to see Mai above her brother's shoulder.

"Hey Mai!"

"Hey Serenity! Long time no see! How have you been?"

"I've been good. What about you?"

"Can't complain. I got a job answering calls for this new gaming company. So Joey, you ready?"

"Yup. See you in a few hours Serenity."

"Okay. You two have fun!"

"We will. Bye hun!" Mai said.

Kaiba and Mai moved down the steps and walked over to a purple convertible. Kaiba stopped for a moment to examine the vehicle, mentally comparing it to an oversized Barbie toy car. Picking his speed back up he walked up to the passenger side and got in. Mai started the engine and once they were both buckled she sped off.

…

At the high school gymnasium Joey seated himself in the front row, which had a seat that'd been reserved just for him, probably on behalf of Mokuba's request. Both stands were packed and the players were seated on the sidelines.

"Ladies and gentleman!" a man announced through the intercoms. "Tonight we bring you an exciting match between the Domino Dominoes and the Toyko Kill-Dies!"

The color drained from Joey's face. The last time the Dominoes went up against the Kill-Dies the thief had banished the Dominoes to the shadow realm out of rage. He scanned the audience for any sign of the thief but could find none. It looked as though the real Bakura had control that night.

Joey looked down at the field to see the home team's cheerleaders swinging their pom-poms and chanting cheers.

"Go Dominoes! Let's defeat our foes! Jump up and down and up and down and show them that you're pros! WOO!"

Joey and the other Dominoes fans cheered. After their cheerleaders left the opposing cheerleaders took to the center of the gym. The Kill-Die cheerleaders were made up of muscular girls sporting black padding with spikes. Instead of having pom-poms the girls had flails, which they were swinging around as they began chanting.

"Kill-Dies are the best! You are just a pest! We'll take the ball and take the hoops and put you all to rest!"

The cheerleaders stopped swinging their flails and their fans went wild. Joey slouched in his seat and swallowed a lump in his throat. He had just caught sight of the other team and saw that they were three times the size of the Dominoes. He suspected that they'd taken steroids; either that or their training was very intense. Whatever the case was the match didn't look good for the home team. He just hoped that nobody would get seriously hurt.

"Alright, let's get ready to rumble!" the speaker announced.

As the teams took their positions the song _Let's Get Ready to Rumble_ started playing. Joey bit his lip and crossed his fingers.

"Come on Mokuba," he begged.

…

Mai had taken Kaiba to a chain restaurant. It wasn't a fast food joint, thank heavens, but it was still cheaper than where Kaiba would normally eat. Mai had informed the hostess that they were on a date so she led them to a 'romantic' spot. The spot of course was just a small booth in a corner of the restaurant that was cramped and had very poor lighting. Mai held her tongue out of courtesy and Kaiba said nothing because he didn't want to do something that might get back to Joey.

"Well, it certainly has the romantic mood," Mai stated, although the look on her face showed she wasn't sure about that.

The hostess handed them their menus and walked off. Kaiba scowled and held the menu up against the lamp in the wall, trying to read it. As they were both trying to make out what was on the menu their waitress came by.

"Hello, welcome to Howard's Sports Bar and Grill. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

Kaiba raised a brow at the waitress, noticing that she was frowning and not making eye contact with either him or Mai. He shrugged it off and looked back at the menu.

"Hm, I'll have some tea."

"I'll have tea too."

The waitress scribbled down their orders and walked off, leaving Mai and Kaiba to stare at each other.

"Wow Joey, I didn't think you'd like tea."

Kaiba just shrugged and went back to looking at the menu. Mai cleared her throat and started speaking again.

"So are you glad to be graduating next year?"

"Yes," he answered. There was no need to lie about that, because truth was that Kaiba would be ecstatic to be finished with high school. If only he hadn't been born so late in the year, then he could've started school earlier and be graduating in just a few months. He still couldn't believe that the teachers had refused to let him skip a grade.

"So what do you plan on doing afterwards? Go to college?"

"No."

He felt that there was no need for college, since he already had his own company. The only reason he didn't drop out of high school was to set a good example for his brother. Mai frowned at hearing this.

"So what are you going to do?"

Kaiba held the menu closer to his face and bit his lip. He had no idea what Wheeler planned on doing after getting out of high school, but he needed to come with a Joey-like answer fast.

"Uh…I'm still thinking things through."

That was a safe enough answer, and it seemed to satisfy Mai. The waitress came back with their drinks in hand, and set them down without making eye contact.

"So have you decided on what you'd like to order?" she asked them.

"I'll have a Ribeye steak, medium well." Kaiba answered.

"And what two sides?"

Kaiba was really getting annoyed by her not making eye contact, but he tried to ignore it.

"Asparagus and mashed potatoes."

"Hm, I'll have the grilled chicken penne," Mai said.

The waitress scribbled down their orders and walked off. Once she was out of sight Kaiba and Mai exchanged glances.

"She didn't even take our menus!" Kaiba said. "This has got to be the worst service I've ever had."

"I've had worse, but yeah, this is pretty bad."

Kaiba downed the rest of his tea and set the cup towards the open end of the table so that someone might refill it. In the back of his mind he thought about Joey and how his evening might be going. He didn't think there was much Joey could do to ruin the night; instead he was more concerned with his brother's first game. Realistically his brother couldn't get hurt too awfully bad, but he still couldn't help but worry.

…

Only a few minutes had passed and the Kill-Dies had turned the match into Armageddon. One of the Dominoes, Rex Raptor, had gotten hit in the face with the ball and lost a tooth and another unfortunate soul had to be taken out of the game due to 'accidental' injury. The Kill-Dies had scored several points while the Dominoes hadn't gotten any. By this point the Dominoes just wanted the game to end and to stay out of the Kill-Dies' range. Rex accidentally caught the ball and began panicking when he saw the Kill-Dies heading his way.

"Here, catch!" he yelled to a fellow teammate.

Rex threw the ball and it was caught by Mokuba. The young boy screamed as the Kill-Dies shifted their focus onto him.

"No, please God no!" he cried.

Mokuba screamed and threw the ball in a random spot. The Kill-Die's largest player, who stood at probably seven feet, sprinted forward in an attempt to catch it. The ball however had been thrusted high into the air and came in direct contact with the giant's head. The gymnasium went silent as he fumbled and collapsed onto the ground. He went into the fetal position and grabbed his knee. The referee blew on the whistle.

"Ouch!" the announcer remarked. "This could be a penalty for the Dominoes, though it didn't look intentional."

A pair of medics came onto the scene with a stretcher and put the Kill-Dies player onto it. Once he was comfortable they hauled him off and the referee shook his head and went back to the sidelines.

"Wow, looks like there's no penalty for that one. With the Kill-Dies' head guy gone it looks like the Dominoes just might have a shot!"

This caused a burst of cheers and boos to fill the room.

"Yeah, go Mokuba!" Joey cheered. He then nudged the person sitting next to him. "That's my brother," he stated proudly.

…

Half an hour passed. Kaiba and Mai's stomachs were growling and they stared at their empty cups. They'd tried flagging down their waitress so they could get refills but they hadn't seen her since she took their orders. They'd tried getting the attention of other waitresses but were ignored.

"I am never eating here again!" Mai spat. "I don't care how good the food is, this service is terrible!"

Kaiba nodded in agreement. Once he got his body back he'd have to try and get the place shut down, somehow.

"So what are we doing after this?" he inquired.

"Well, if we ever get out of here I'd like to see a movie."

This caused Kaiba to cringe a little. He wasn't the type of person who enjoyed sitting for hours on end watching something. Seto Kaiba was a man who liked to accomplish something, to be on the go. This was why he was starting to twitch from sitting at the cramped, dimly lit booth for half an hour. Mai took notice of the look on his face.

"Or, we could do something else," she suggested.

"No, a movie will be fine," he lied. In fact, the more he thought about it the more the idea appealed to him. People weren't supposed to talk during movies, so that would actually work out for him. But then another thought popped into his head. What if Mai started cuddling against him, or worse, try to kiss him? By the time this occurred to him though it was too late to change his mind: he'd already agreed with her.

"Tell you what hun, I'll let you pick something to watch."

He nodded. Finally, he had a real choice in this whole mess. Now if only the food would arrive.

…

In spite of the Kill-Dies' best efforts to avenge their main man the home team had managed to score a few points. The second half of the game was getting started and the two teams were at a tie. The ball was tossed into the air and was caught by Weevil. He dribbled it for a bit before tossing it to Rex.

"I don't want this!" he yelled, tossing it back.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Weevil yelled as he caught it.

Weevil let out a groan and tossed it to the next closest player, Mokuba. The young Kaiba caught it and began dribbling towards the basket. He leapt into the air with all his might and managed the get the ball through the hoop. The home audience let out a cheer as he dangled from the hoop, still holding onto the rims.

"Hey, a little help here?" he pleaded.

…

After their meals finally arrived the two wolfed their food down and left as quickly as possible. They had gone to a drive-in theatre and paid their way in, but had yet to decide on a movie. Mai parked her car in a random spot and examined the list for something good.

"Hey Joey, they got an action-ninja movie playing, I know you like those."

Kaiba looked at the paper and cringed.

"Actually I'm more interested in that Sci-Fi one on the right."

"Really?"

Kaiba nodded and crossed his arms.

"Well, if that's what you want to watch, then ok."

The blonde woman shifted the gear into drive and headed to the screen on the opposite side. Kaiba looked out the window, staring at the various vehicles parked or trying to find a place to park. When he and his brother lived in the orphanage they'd snuck into a drive-in once, but he could barely remember the experience. There were a lot of things he either couldn't remember or chose to forget, but on some occasions certain sights would trigger his long forgotten memories.

"Well this should be interesting," Mai said. "Would you like some drinks or snacks?"

"I could probably use something to drink," he admitted.

"Alright, what would you like?"

"Tea if they have it."

"Okay, I'll be right back hun."

Kaiba leaned back as she left the vehicle. Aside from the poor service at the restaurant the night was going better than expected. Mai wasn't nearly as annoying as he thought she'd be and he was pleasantly surprised that she was letting him make his own choices instead of trying to have things her way.

When she returned she had two drinks cradled up against a large bag of popcorn. She leaned over the door and stuck the items instead, handing Kaiba his drink and putting hers in a cup-holder.

"I know you didn't want any snacks, but I got something in case you get hungry," she said, getting back into her seat. "We can split it."

He thanked her and began sipping on his drink.

"You know, it'd hard to believe just how far you and I have come. It seems like it was almost yesterday that we were at each other's throats."

Kaiba stopped drinking and raised a brow. He'd never known that Mai and his rival used to despise each other. From the way they acted he assumed that they'd always been close. Now he was curious.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about all of that," he said, trying to see where the conversation could go. He hoped Mai would follow up with details.

"You have no reason to apologize: I was the one who was a jerk. If it wasn't for you and your friends I'd still be that shallow, ruthless person from before Duelist Kingdom."

The thought of the tournament still made Kaiba shudder. He'd been through a lot of terrible things in his life, but that experience was the absolute worst. The fear of losing his brother sent him completely over the edge, driving him to attempted suicide and making him hallucinate about him and his brother getting their souls imprisoned. Or, at least he'd convinced himself that it just a hallucination.

"It's just, I'd never been able to trust anyone before," Mai continued. "After my parents died I was dumped off at an orphanage and forgotten about. No matter how hard I tried to impress the visiting couples I could never get anyone to adopt me. I tried making friends with the other kids, but they were always coming and going, so I decided that it was better to just not get close to anyone."

Kaiba stared at Mai as she told her story. Even though he was a little coldhearted he couldn't help but feel sympathy for people who'd grown up as he had.

"But enough about that," Mai wrapped up. "I think the movie's finally starting."

The commercials on the screen came to an end and were replaced with opening titles. Kaiba and Mai turned their attention to the screen, though Kaiba was paying more attention to his thoughts than the actual movie. He couldn't quite explain it, but he was becoming interested in Mai. Not only did they share a love of Duel Monsters but they had similar upbringings (although Kaiba wasn't sure if she'd been abused as he had). Not to mention she was quite beautiful.

"_Oh my God,"_ Kaiba thought. _"I think I'm developing feelings for her!"_

…

The game was at an even draw, and only a few minutes remained. Mokuba had gotten the ball and was dribbling it towards the other end. Joey stood up and cheered.

"Come on Mokuba, you can do this!" he yelled.

The small boy jumped into the air, just a few feet from the goal. Just when victory looked certain a Kill-Dies player jumped in front of him, causing Mokuba to collide with his chest. The audience let out a gasp as Mokuba fell onto the ground, the ball falling out of his grasp. Another Kill-Dies player caught the ball and tossed it to another player, who in turn shot in into the hoop. The Kill-Dies scored a point and the clock zeroed out.

"And it looks like the Kill-Dies win!"

The Dominoes audience booed while the Kill-Dies cheerleaders waved their flails and shouted excitedly. In the midst of the chaos Joey rushed onto the end of the court, where Mokuba was being carried out on a stretcher.

"Mokuba, are you okay? Speak to me!" he begged.

"D-Did we win?" he groaned.

"No," Joey sighed.

"There goes our pizza party," the young boy groaned.

Joey followed Kaiba's younger brother and the paramedic outside. The man loaded him up into the back of an ambulance and hauled him off, leaving Joey to stand in the parking lot by himself.

"Man, I hope he'll be okay," he muttered. "And I hope Kaiba's night is going betta' than dis."

…

After the movie ended Mai dropped Kaiba off at Joey's apartment. The two walked up the steps and stood outside the door, where they could hear the TV running from inside, along with yelling and cussing. It was muffled, but Kaiba figured it was probably Mr. Wheeler. Mai ignored the noise and looked at Kaiba with a grin.

"We need to do this again," she stated.

"Yeah," Kaiba agreed, reaching for the knob.

"Hey, you're not going to leave without giving me a goodbye kiss, are you?"

It was the moment that Kaiba had feared, although he now feared it for a different reason.

"_Relax,"_ Kaiba told himself. _"I'm sure it won't even feel good. Just close your eyes and get it over with."_

Kaiba closed his eyes and began leaning down, but Mai became impatient and grabbed him by his shirt. She pulled him in and crashed her lips onto his. Kaiba's eyes shot open in shock; not only from the sudden outburst but also by how surprisingly pleasant the kiss was. Mai let go after she was done and pulled away with a smile.

"Well, goodnight Joey."

"Uh…yeah."

Mai turned around and walked down the steps towards her car. As he watched her get in Kaiba brought his fingers up to his lips, still feeling the spark from the kiss. He didn't think it was possible, but he was falling for Mai.

After she left Kaiba opened the door. As he walked inside he could hear someone shouting.

"YOU STUPID MOTHER—oh, hey Joey!"

Kaiba's mouth dropped open in appall. Instead of Mr. Wheeler sitting on the couch it was Serenity, who was wearing a sports shirt. He looked around the room but couldn't see his rival's father in sight.

"That…that was you cussing?"

Serenity bit her lip nervously.

"I…I get carried away when it comes to sports."

The bathroom door opened and Mr. Wheeler stepped out with a beer in hand.

"Hey, who's winning?" he asked, taking a seat next to his daughter.

"England," she said with a snarl.

"Uh…I'm going to bed." Kaiba stated.

The teen headed to his rival's room and quickly closed the door behind him, just in time to drown out the yelling of both Joey's father _and_ sister.

_A/N: And there's one of the pairings I mentioned in the first chapter: Kaiba x Mai. I know in the English version it says her parents were always busy, but I find the Japanese version of her biography to be more interesting and I think it explains her personality better. As for Serenity being a sports fan there's nothing in canon to support that, but I thought it'd be a fun way for her and her dad to bond. Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter and story so far._


	11. New Plans

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I'd like to remind you guys to please log into your FanFiction account before posting comments asking questions, because I cannot reply to you if you're not logged in. If you don't have an account you can make one for free. Now that that's out of the way let's move onto the story.

…

It was early in the morning, around one, and the occupants of the Kaiba mansion were fast asleep in their beds. Joey snored loudly and shifted around, messing up the covers to his rival's bed. A loud ring came from the cellphone on the stand beside him. Joey let out a groan and reached for it with his eyes closed, knocking over the lamp and alarm clock in the process. Once he got a hold of it he flipped it open and brought it against his ear.

"Pizza Hut?" he asked.

"It's me," Kaiba said.

"Kaiba?" Joey asked, opening his eyes. He looked at the ground and saw the time displayed on the tilted alarm clock. "Why are you calling so late?"

"I've got a plan."

"Well it's about time," Joey grumbled.

He could hear Kaiba let out a soft growl on the other line.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," Kaiba hissed. "I went by the museum again and talked to Ishizu to see if she could translate some dark spells for me."

"Oh yeah, how did dat go?"

"Well she found it to be odd, but that's beside the point. Apparently the only dark spells they had were stolen; I'm guessing by that white haired freak."

Joey let out a groan and rolled onto his back. If it wasn't for the fact that Kaiba already had a plan in place he would've been very distraught.

"So what's the plan?"

"I hate to say it, but our only option is to break into VSphere and use the pods to try and switch back."

"And how are we supposed to do dat? I'm sure they've got guards or something…wait…Marik!"

"What about Marik?" Kaiba snapped.

"He promised to help us out, remember? He can use his rod to control the guards!"

The CEO let out a snort.

"You really believe in that crap?"

"Well it must be true, or we wouldn't have switched bodies," Joey retorted in a mocking tone.

Kaiba groaned again. Joey smirked triumphantly, pleased that he had bested his rival in an argument. The other boy decided to drop the subject.

"Okay, fine, we can bring Marik along, but I don't want that creep getting too close to us!"

"Alright, sheesh. So when are we going to do dis?"

"Tonight at midnight. We'll meet up at the park by Burger World. Let Marik know."

"Okay, I'll—" Joey cut off when he heard a click on the other line. Kaiba had hung up on him.

Letting out a disgruntled groan Joey rolled back onto his side. Part of him hoped that this experience would put their rivalry at ease, but he turned out to be wrong. He wasn't sure what Kaiba had learned about him, but he had learned a little bit about Kaiba. Judging from the scars on the CEO's body (usually hidden by his concealing attire) he guessed that Kaiba was physically abused, probably by his stepfather or quite possibly by the caretakers at the orphanage he'd grown up in (or maybe both). Joey's father could have a bad temper, he wouldn't lie, but aside from throwing things at him on occasion he'd never been abused in the sense that his enemy had. Still, Kaiba's rough upbringing didn't excuse his behavior in Joey's mind.

Joey rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep.

…

Kaiba quietly hung up the phone. Serenity and Mr. Wheeler had gone to sleep hours ago, so he tried his best not to wake them. He truly couldn't wait to be back in his old body so that the only person he'd have to concern himself with was Mokuba.

The young CEO wasn't sure where to stand with Mai. It was true that he was developing feelings for her, but in spite of that there were many odds against him. First of all she was dating Joey, and secondly he had no idea how she felt about him. It was true that she sometimes struck up small talk with him, but he didn't know what her reasons for that were. Even if she did like him there was another problem: his fear of intimacy.

He wasn't exactly sure where his fear stemmed from: being abandoned, being abused, or quite possibly just being born with the reluctance. Kaiba had a hard enough time getting close to people on a personal level and the thought of going further than that made him very uncomfortable. Plus his romantic partner (if he ever got one) would notice his scars and he really didn't want that subject being brought up.

Kaiba opened the door to his rival's bedroom and gently shut it. He crawled back into bed and tried to get some much needed rest for the task ahead.

…

A knock at the door tore Kaiba out of his sleep. The young man raised his head and let out a groan.

"Wake up Joey!"

Kaiba opened his eyes and looked towards the door. Mr. Wheeler stepped in, wearing a sports shirt. He had no idea why his rival's father was dressed like that but he was about to find out.

"Get dressed! I'm taking you and your sister out today!"

"Where?"

"We're going to Tokyo for lunch and a game!"

"Tokyo? That's almost two hours away."

"Well you're going. The three of us are going to spend the day together and have a good time; whether you like it or not."

Kaiba wanted to point out the contradiction in his statement but decided against it. As he sat up he threw the covers off to the side.

"Alright, give me a few minutes."

Mr. Wheeler stepped out and closed the door. As quickly as he could Kaiba went to the dresser and browsed through the shirts and pants available. For an occasion such as baseball Kaiba decided to just go ahead and throw on some jeans and a jersey. Once he finished he stepped into the living room and met up with the rest of Joey's family, who were already dressed.

"Alright, now that everyone's dressed we can get going. We'll stop for breakfast on the way but first I gotta swing by a friend's house."

Secretly Kaiba wondered if 'friend' was code for 'parole officer'. He made a note to himself to look up the Wheelers' criminal records later.

Mr. Wheeler led everyone out of the apartment and towards his beat-up gray car, which he had parked in the apartment's lot with the other vehicles. Once the car was loaded up Mr. Wheeler took off, almost hitting a cat in the process.

…

Joey had been in the middle of eating breakfast when his cell phone started to go off. When he pulled it out of his pocket he saw that the head of VSphere, Ms. Johnson, was calling him. He quickly swallowed the lump of pancakes in his mouth and answered.

"Hello Mr. Kaiba. I'm pleased to inform you that our company has updated your machines with our latest gaming software."

"That's great. When can we get it on the market?"

"I was actually hoping that you'd come over and test it out for yourself first."

Joey lowered his arm, letting his glass of juice rest on the table.

"Really?"

"Yes. Since we are business partners I wouldn't want to release this without your complete and total approval of the system. If it's of no inconvenience to you I'd like to have you over here in an hour."

Events were starting to finally go in his favor. If he could bring Kaiba along then they'd be able to switch bodies sooner than they expected. The best part was that they wouldn't need to break and enter or have to sneak around guards.

"Sure thing. Would it be alright if I brought someone along?"

There was a brief pause on the other line. For a moment Joey wondered if she'd heard him.

"I usually only allow approved staff. Last time we allowed a random person in things didn't go so well."

"Well you can trust this guy. I wouldn't invite someone that I didn't trust."

Another pause followed; this one being longer. Joey crossed his fingers and hoped that she would say yes. If she did it would make things so much easier.

"Alright, I'll allow it just this once."

Joey felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. The day was saved.

"Okay, I'll be there in about an hour."

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba. I look forward to seeing you both."

The call ended and Joey took a gulp of juice. In excitement he quickly dialed the number to his home. There was one ring, then another, and another. By the fourth ring Joey's excitement began to dwindle. After the fifth he heard a message.

"Hey, this is the Wheeler residence. We're not here at the moment so please leave your name and number so we can get back to you."

Joey groaned and hung up.

"Man, that figures! Now what?"

After a minute of thinking it occurred to him that his rival carried a laptop on him. He didn't know the e-mail address to Kaiba's personal account (if he even had one) but he figured that he'd probably check the main site. He just hoped that he'd get back to the message in time.

With another gulp of juice Joey wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and darted out of the dining room. As he headed for the stairs he brushed past Mokuba, whose arm had thankfully not been broken during the game.

"Hey Seto."

Joey ran past him without giving any response and darted up the stairs. The young boy blinked and stared, then shook his head.

"Geez, if he keeps acting like this I'm going to have to hire a psychologist," Mokuba muttered.

Once Joey reached Kaiba's personal office he practically leapt into the chair. The computer had been left on from earlier that morning so all he had to do was get online and e-mail the company site. He knew it'd look odd for Kaiba to be e-mailing himself but at that point he really didn't care.

"Meet Ms. Johnson at VSphere headquarters in an hour," he said aloud as he typed. He then hit 'send' and leaned back in his chair. "I sure hope he gets that. Now, time to find something to wear."

With that Joey stood up and left the office. Only time would tell if the new plan would work out. If not, then they would simply have to wait until midnight.

_A/N: I planned to include more in this chapter but I felt it would end up being way too long so I'll just add it to the next one. Let me know what you think about this chapter and the story so far. _


	12. A Promise is Broken

Mr. Wheeler pulled into the driveway of small house with busted windows and chipped paint. Aside from Mr. Wheeler's car were two other vehicles pulled up and Kaiba could see another one sitting in the garage. Loud music, either coming from a TV or stereo, was coming from inside the house. The young CEO couldn't help but wonder why they were there.

"I'm going in for just a minute," Mr. Wheeler said as he unbuckled. "You kids stay in here."

After getting out and slamming the driver's door shut Mr. Wheeler walked to the front door of the house, leaving both Kaiba and Serenity sitting alone in the car.

"Joey, does this place look familiar to you?"

"No. Why, do you recognize it?"

Serenity shook her head and elaborated, "I just thought that maybe you'd been here before."

Kaiba thought that perhaps the real Joey might've known what was up, but since he wasn't around at that moment all he and Serenity could do was speculate. Perhaps it was just because of how the house looked, but Kaiba got a bad vibe from the place.

"Maybe he's buying drugs," Kaiba spoke up.

"Joey, don't joke like that," Serenity scolded.

"I wasn't joking," Kaiba remarked. Okay, so part of him was, but he honestly considered it a possibility.

Serenity let out a sigh and clutched onto her seatbelt.

"I'm sure he's just visiting a friend," she assured.

Just as Kaiba double-checked to make sure the doors were locked Mr. Wheeler came out of the house. Kaiba unlocked the driver's door and let his rival's father get in.

"So why'd we stop here?" Serenity asked. Kaiba had wondered the same thing, but by the looks of the place and the vibe he got from Mr. Wheeler he honestly didn't want to know. It was probably better if he didn't.

"Oh, just visiting a friend, doing some business. Now let's go get some breakfast."

…

Thirty minutes had passed and Joey had gotten no response from his enemy. He tried calling again and got nothing, then checked the e-mail and got nothing. Finally he decided to just swing by the apartment to see if anybody was home.

The chauffeur was confused by Joey's orders, but he had no choice but the follow them. As they went into the poorer side of Domino City the driver started getting nervous and locked the doors.

"Good call," Joey remarked. "There's some real creeps out here."

The driver came to a stop just outside of the Wheeler's apartment. This was the first time Joey had been back in the past week, and seeing the neighborhood after having spent so much time at the mansion made him realize just how bad off his real life was. He wondered if that was how his sister felt when she visited him.

"I'll only be a minute," Joey told the driver.

"Yes sir."

Joey stepped out and examined the area. His old man's car was gone, so the whole family probably was too. Joey let out a groan and started heading back to the limo when a voice stopped him.

"Kaiba? What are you doing here?"

A gasp escaped through his lips. It was Yugi. God, it had been so long since he'd seen him.

"I'm looking for the mutt," Joey replied, trying his best to sound like the cold CEO.

"He's not home?" Yugi asked.

"_Darn,"_ Joey thought. _"Yug doesn't know where he is either!"_

"No, he isn't."

"Oh. Well, I was actually on my way to go see him. He's been acting weird lately."

Joey clutched the briefcase in his hand. He couldn't believe that after spending so much time getting onto his case it was Kaiba that was messing things up. Joey swore that the next time he saw him that he'd give him a good smack in the face.

"Weird how?" Joey inquired.

"Well, he's been uptight and keeping to himself. It's almost like something's bugging him."

"_Yeah, it's probably that stick in his ass,"_ Joey thought.

"Oh well," Yugi said. "I guess I'll just come by here later. It was nice seeing you."

Joey said nothing as he watched his friend walk off. He honestly couldn't wait to get back into his old body so this charade could end.

…

Kaiba's eyes widened as they arrived at their destination. Apparently Mr. Wheeler thought that girls in short-shorts and tight belly shirts was part of a balanced breakfast, because he'd pulled into the parking lot of Ta-Ta's, a 'gentlemans' restaurant.

"They serve breakfast at a place like this?" Kaiba asked.

"Yup."

The three got out of the car and headed inside. Mr. Wheeler had a stupid grin plastered on his face and Kaiba and Serenity both looked like they'd need therapy. A busty blonde hostess greeted them with menus in hand.

"Good morning, welcome to Ta-Ta's. How many?"

"Three," Mr. Wheeler answered.

The hostess led them to their booth and handed them their menus. After she left Kaiba looked around and realized that Serenity was the only female in appropriate attire. He couldn't help but feel sorry that a young girl like her was being dragged into that sort of place with her father of all people.

"_God, if Mr. Wheeler had raised her she would've been one screwed up girl,"_ Kaiba thought.

The waitress came by and asked what they wanted to drink.

"Orange juice," Kaiba and Serenity requested.

"I'll take a Bud light," Mr. Wheeler said.

The two teens gave him a horrified look.

"Do you really think you should be drinking?" Kaiba asked.

"One beer won't hurt," Mr. Wheeler snapped.

Kaiba rolled his eyes while the waitress finished writing up the request.

"Are you ready to order or do you need a few minutes?" the waitress asked.

"What's the breakfast style chicken?" Mr. Wheeler asked.

"Well, we take one breast and—"

"Just one?" Kaiba remarked. "I figured that this place would serve two."

The waitress stopped for a moment and started to turn pink in the face.

"Uh, anyway, we take one breast, grilled or fried, and serve it inside a biscuit with bacon and a fried egg on top. You get one side with it."

"Yum. I'll take that fried with some grits."

The waitress took his order and turned to face the teenagers.

"And you two?"

"I'll just have a yogurt parfait," Serenity said.

"Yogurt? Only girls eat yogurt!" Mr. Wheeler snapped.

"I—but—I am a girl."

"She'll have the breakfast chicken too! Hell, give all of us the breakfast chicken!"

Serenity let out a sigh and looked up at the waitress.

"I'll have it grilled with some yogurt on the side," she muttered.

"I want mine grilled with sliced apples," Kaiba said.

The waitress scribbled down their orders and walked off. Once she was gone Kaiba blew up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"With me? What's wrong with _you? _You've been awfully mouthy ever since your sister got here!"

"That's because you're completely intolerable! I—"

Kaiba stopped because he saw someone across the aisle. The sight of the blonde woman taking orders made his mouth drop open.

"Mai!?"

She stopped and turned around, revealing that she was indeed who he suspected. Her and Kaiba stared at each other like deers caught in headlights.

"Oh…Joey…I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, it was all his idea," he stated, pointing to Mr. Wheeler. "You told me you worked at a new gaming company!"

"I do! At nights. But during the day I, well, you can see for yourself. It's not like I _want_ to work here, but I have to pay my bills somehow."

Mr. Wheeler let out a whistle.

"Hey son, who's this?"

"She's my girlfriend, so don't even think about it!"

"Actually, nothing's official yet," Mai corrected. "Unless; Joey, do you really want us to take that step?"

Kaiba thought for a moment. He and Joey had promised that they wouldn't mess with each others' lives, but the situation was different then. He still couldn't believe it, but he had fallen for Mai. If he put her and Joey together it would complicate things for him when he got his old body back. He didn't know for sure if Mai would give him a chance but he'd be damned if he was going to throw that opportunity away.

"Actually Mai, no. In fact, I don't think we should see each other anymore."

Mai's eyes widened, but she didn't frown, cringe or burst into tears. For a moment Kaiba wondered if she'd heard him.

"You're joking, right?" she asked.

"No."

It was after that statement that Mai lost her composure. Her face cringed up and tears started to form in her eyes. Kaiba hated seeing her like that, but once he got back to his body and company he was going to make up for it.

"B-But why?"

"Yeah Joey, why are you doing this?" Serenity jumped in.

"I'm sorry, but, I don't want to date someone who's going to sink this low just for some cash."

The pain in Mai's eyes were replaced with fury. Her guest was becoming impatient and spoke up.

"Uh, excuse me, are you going to finish taking my order?" he asked.

Mai's fuse finally blew.

"Joey Wheeler, you are an insensitive prick and I never want to see you again!"

A couple of guys had been watching from their booths and broke into applause.

"Yeah, you tell him honey!" a bearded guy cheered.

With that she turned around and went back to her previous task. After she finished taking the guy's order she stormed off into the kitchen, letting the door slam behind her. Although Kaiba was upset about breaking her heart he was glad that she didn't cry about it.

"Joey, I can't believe you treated Mai like that!" Serenity exclaimed.

"No kidding!" Mr. Wheeler joined in. "Don't you have any idea on how to treat women?"

"Well it's not like I had the best example," Kaiba snapped back.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on! You drink like a fish and have the charm of a skunk! I bet that's why mom left you!"

Mr. Wheeler became stiff. Kaiba had expected him to yell or snap back but he didn't. After a few seconds Serenity decided to speak up.

"Joey, dad started drinking and gambling after mom left him."

"What?"

"Mom and dad got divorced because of my disease. They were so stressed that they took their anger out on each other and it ruined their relationship. Dad started drinking because of the divorce and because I was getting worse."

Kaiba had heard bits and pieces of the Wheelers' life stories but he didn't know the whole picture. He'd heard that Serenity almost lost her vision but he thought it was because of an accident or because she sat too close to the TV; he never realized it was something she'd been battling almost her whole life.

"That still doesn't explain the gambling," he pointed out.

"I was trying to do whatever I could to pay her medical bills," Mr. Wheeler said. "One day I heard about an experimental operation that could save her sight. I thought that if I could get enough money I could make her better, and once I started I just couldn't stop."

Kaiba opened his mouth to speak but he didn't say anything. Honestly, there was nothing he could say. Some of the guys who had cheered for Mai earlier were listening and startled to sniffle.

"That's the saddest story I ever heard," said a guy wearing a red, plaid sweater.

"I wish my pop would've gambled for me," said the bearded man.

A tall man with long pink hair joined in.

"I zink I vill start a charity for sick children," he said.

"Zigfried Von Schroeder!?" Kaiba exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a company to run?"

"No, I lost it because of ze economy. I am looking for sexy ladies to make a girly magazine zat I am working on."

Kaiba groaned.

"Are there anymore familiar faces around here?" he inquired.

"Vivian Vong is a vaitress here," Zigfried answered.

Kaiba let out another groan and fell face down on the table. The waitress came by just then with their drinks and stared at him.

"Is he alright?" she asked Mr. Wheeler and Serenity.

"Yeah, yeah, he'll be fine. Now gimme my beer."

_A/N: There was really nothing in canon that stated why Joey and Serenity's parents divorced. I know Mr. Wheeler's an alcoholic gambling addict but he couldn't have been like that beforehand or Mrs. Wheeler wouldn't have let him have custody of Joey (at least I HOPE she wouldn't have). I don't know what kind of disease Serenity had that was making her go blind but it's likely that it was something she'd had for years; maybe even since birth. I hope you're all still enjoying the story. Let me know what you think. _


	13. From Bad to Worse

Joey had just arrived at the VSphere headquarters. The secretary gave him directions to Ms. Johnson's personal office so Joey went into the elevator and headed for the top floor. When he stepped out he saw Ms. Johnson standing in the hallway.

"Oh, I was just about to head down to the lobby," she said. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too. So where are the pods?"

"In our test rooms. Let me lead the way."

Ms. Johnson stepped into the elevator, so Joey followed her lead. She pressed the button for the basement level and the doors closed. In a matter of seconds the doors opened back up and the two stepped out. Joey followed Ms. Johnson throughout the basement level of the headquarters. The basement was much cleaner and brighter than Joey had imagined that it would be, and there were several doors that led to various, marked rooms. Ms. Johnson came to a stop at one labeled 'pods'.

"Here we are Mr. Kaiba," said Ms. Johnson.

She whipped out a card and slid it down a reader. There was a small 'click' and Ms. Johnson opened the door. An automated light came on, revealing several helmets and gloves spread out across a counter top. Joey raised a brow.

"Where's the pods?"

"Our signs haven't yet been updated. We've successfully replicated the functions of your pods to fit into a helmet sized device. To use it you simply place the helmet on your head and the gloves onto your hands. Wireless technology transmits the information from one device to the other."

Joey let out a whistle. He'd seen that kind of stuff in movies and comics, but he couldn't believe it had made it into reality. With the devices being less restricted he could use them almost anywhere, almost anytime.

"_Man, wait 'till Yugi gets a load of this!"_ Joey thought to himself.

"Although you can use them however you wish it is recommended that first time users sit down while using the devices. We don't want to risk any injuries."

"Smart thinking," Joey agreed. "I can't wait for my friend to get here."

…

The Wheeler family, plus Kaiba, was back on the road. Mr. Wheeler weaved throughout traffic recklessly, causing Kaiba and Serenity to panic.

"You almost hit that car!" Kaiba snapped.

"But I didn't," Mr. Wheeler stated. "Now shut up and listen to the radio."

He turned up the radio and Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' echoed throughout the car. Kaiba crossed his arms and looked out the window, hoping a cop would spot them and pull them over. Meanwhile Serenity had clasped her hands together and was praying softly. Mr. Wheeler spotted her in the rearview mirror and grinned.

"Atta girl Ren! Pray that our team wins!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and continued looking for a police car. There were none in sight. Kaiba cursed under his breath and Mr. Wheeler cut someone off.

"Geez, these people need to learn how to drive!" Mr. Wheeler spat.

The teenage CEO's eyes widened. Far behind them in the next lane a cop car was catching up to them, its sirens wailing and its lights flashing. They were saved.

"Oh no," said Mr. Wheeler, having spotted them. "I can't let them pull me over!"

"Well you don't have much of a choice," Kaiba pointed out.

"I gotta try and lose him! If they catch me without my license I'm a dead man!"

Kaiba's stomach knotted.

"You left it at home?" he asked.

"No, the court had it revoked!"

Kaiba's left eye twitched. His temper finally boiled over.

"You've been driving without a license!? What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Joey, I'm scared!" Serenity panicked.

Mr. Wheeler started to sweat. He tightened his grip on the wheel and leaned back.

"Hang on kids!"

Before either Kaiba or Serenity could process what was happening, Mr. Wheeler had put the pedal to the metal. The car began picking up high speeds, making an already bad situation even worse. The cop picked up their speed and tried catching up to them.

Mr. Wheeler continued weaving in and out of traffic, trying unsuccessfully to lose the cop behind him. Unfortunately they passed by yet another cop car, and that one flicked on its sirens and joined in on the chase. Kaiba looked out the back window and gritted his teeth.

"This is ridiculous!" he spat. "Soon we'll have the SWAT team on our tails! Just give yourself up!"

"No! I can still lose them!"

"You're gonna get us killed!" Kaiba argued.

"I want my mom!" Serenity wailed.

"Trust in your old man, kids!"

Kaiba let out a groan. Knowing his luck he figured that they would crash and that he'd die the same way his birth father had: in a high speed chase with the police.

Further up the road a small group of policemen branded together. They spread out to opposite sides and created a barricade. The other drivers slammed on their breaks, but Mr. Wheeler kept going. Quickly he weaved into the other lane and then drove onto the grass.

"Let's see if they can catch us now!" Mr. Wheeler gloated.

He made a quick turn and headed into the woods. The police cars came to a stop, and Mr. Wheeler let out a cheer.

"Oh yeah! Just the way my daddy taught me! Now, to the stadium!"

…

It had been half an hour and Joey still hadn't heard back from Kaiba. He wanted to wait for his arrival before testing out the equipment but Ms. Johnson was becoming impatient.

"Mr. Kaiba, I hate to rush you but I do have other clients that I have to meet up with today."

Joey let out a sigh, realizing that his time was up. So much for his plan.

"I understand," he muttered. "Let's just go ahead and try out the equipment."

Ms. Johnson grinned.

"Alright Mr. Kaiba, I will insert the disc into the console."

As she opened the driver to the machine Joey took a seat and put on the gloves. Ms. Johnson inserted the disc and pressed the glowing red button.

"Now, you may put on your helmet."

As soon as Joey placed the helmet on his head the lab disappeared from his vision. He found himself in a bright room with various chairs and control panels. What stood out the most however was a large window in front of him, displaying stars gleaming and comets rushing through vast blackness.

"Whoa, I'm on a space ship! This is so cool!"

Suddenly sirens went off and red lights flashed. Several crew members wearing red suits and helmets rushed into the room. They sat down and started pressing buttons at the control panels. Joey sat down in the main chair and looked around.

"Captain, the leader of the enemy wishes to communicate," one of the crew members spoke. "Should I put them on screen?"

"Yes."

In a flash the view of outer space was replaced with someone wearing a blue suit and helmet.

"Enjoying the game so far?" they asked. From the voice it was clear that it was Ms. Johnson. Joey nodded. "Good, because you're going to be stuck here a long time, Mr. Kaiba!"

A horrified gasp escaped Joey's lips. The woman was setting him up!

"B-But I'm not Kaiba!" he protested. "See?"

He attempted to take off his helmet, but it was doing no good. Ms. Johnson laughed.

"Who knew that the famous Seto Kaiba could be so pathetic? No matter, you'll soon pay for what you've done to me."

"And what would dat be?"

"You still don't remember me? Go figure; that's why you're in this mess to begin with. I used to be madly in love with you, but no matter how much or how hard I tried to gain your attention I could never get you to notice me. Well, you're going to notice me now!"

"Uh…oh, is dat all? Well, let me go and I'll take you out. We'll have some wine, watch some movies—"

"It's too late for that now! Enjoy your new home, Mr. Kaiba!"

Ms. Johnson cackled before logging off. The screen went back to displaying outer space.

"No!" Joey cried. "Put her back on the screen!"

His teammates stood up and began surrounding him.

"Sorry sir, but we have new orders," one of them stated.

Joey tried to make a break for it but was restrained by one of the crew members. The others joined in and dragged him off. No matter how much he kicked and struggled he just couldn't break free. He was all alone, and his only hope was Kaiba.

_A/N: I apologize for such a long delay. I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. Happy Passover/Easter. _


	14. Kaiba Snaps

_Thanks for the reviews and subs. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!_

…

Young Mokuba Kaiba paced around the living room, leaving noticeable traffic marks in the Kaibas' expensive carpeting. Occasionally he glanced over at the telephone on the wall and down at the cell phone in his pocket, silently praying that one of them would ring.

"Come on Seto, what's taking so long?" he pondered.

He had called his brother twice over the last few hours. Both times he had gotten the automated voicemail and had left brief messages. Mokuba decided to whip out his cell phone and call again.

The line rang…and rang…and rang. After what seemed like forever, Mokuba got the answering machine again. This time Mokuba decided to just hang up without leaving a message.

"That's it, I'm going to VSphere and find out what's going on," he decided.

…

Hours away from Domino City, Kaiba sat in a stadium with a large soda in hand. To his right sat Serenity, who was cheering for Tokyo's team. To his left stood Mr. Wheeler, who had a giant foam finger on one hand and a hotdog in the other. Kaiba groaned inwardly as his rival's father continued to scream.

"GO TEAM! I'VE GOT A HUNDRED BUCKS RIDING ON THIS GAME!"

Kaiba spit out his drink and coughed uncontrollably. Serenity stopped cheering and placed a hand on Kaiba's shoulder.

"Joey, are you alright?"

He regained his composure and glanced at his rival's sister.

"This moron's gambling!?"

"What?" Serenity gasped, looking at her father. "Daddy, you promised you'd stop!"

"I will pumpkin, but I've got a good feeling about today."

"Do you even have a hundred dollars?" asked Kaiba.

"Uh…define 'dollars'."

The kids' eyes widened in horror. Mr. Wheeler noticed their expressions and sighed.

"Look, everything will work out. It always does."

"Yeah, except your marriage," Kaiba grumbled.

"Do you wanna run that by me again!?" Mr. Wheeler challenged.

Suddenly, Serenity cringed. The young girl leaned over Kaiba and tugged on her dad's sleeve.

"Uh, daddy…"

She motioned towards the field, where the game had just wrapped up. Mr. Wheeler dropped his meal in shock as the rest of the audience in their bleachers groaned.

"—and that last minute turn of events have earned the Tigers their victory!" the announcer remarked. "What a sight to see!"

After placing his soda in the holster, Kaiba crossed his arms and scowled at Mr. Wheeler.

"So, what's your plan now?" he asked.

The lanky blond man sat down and leaned back. After half a minute of glancing up at the sky, an idea finally came to him. He straightened his posture and turned to face the two teens.

"Okay, so here's the plan: we change our identities and move to Kushiro. If we leave now we can probably make it before breakfast."

"That's ridiculous!" spat Kaiba. "I'm not going to Kushiro!"

"Well I don't hear you coming up with anything!" Mr. Wheeler then looked over at his daughter. "Hey Ren, did your mom give you any money for this visit?"

"Mooching off your own kid, that's just wonderful," Kaiba grumbled.

Serenity and her father ignored him.

"Well, no, but I bet if we called mom—"

Mr. Wheeler let out a snort.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure she'd love to do that! If she finds out I'm still gambling—"

"So don't tell her," said Kaiba. "Just make something up."

"Lie? I don't know if I can do that. I was married to her for… for…" Kaiba rolled his eyes as Mr. Wheeler tried to think back to his marriage. Eventually he gave up and returned to his original point. "Anyway, your mother can read me like an open book."

Kaiba let out a groan. If he'd had his card on him he could've just gone to the nearest ATM and made a withdrawal. Mentally he scolded himself for being so forgetful.

"When do you have to pay these guys off?" he inquired.

"Right about now," answered a strange voice.

The three looked to their right to see a trio of men standing in the row down from them. The man on the left had long, blond hair and silver earrings while the man on the right was tall with spiked black hair. The man in the middle was rather short, wearing a red baseball cap that shaded his round face.

"Uh…who are you?" asked Mr. Wheeler.

"Dan sent us," answered the man in the middle. "He thought you might try to skip town before paying your dues."

Mr. Wheeler started to chuckle nervously.

"I'd have to be pretty stupid to try and pull a stunt like that," said Mr. Wheeler.

"Wait a minute, how did you even find us?" asked Kaiba. "There must be over a thousand people in this stadium!"

"We spent the last hour trying to scope your old man out. Now, fork over the money!"

Mr. Wheeler cringed.

"Uh, you see, I left my wallet back home."

"Uh huh. Guys, check him!"

The other two men stepped up and grabbed Mr. Wheeler. While the blond had him restrained the spikey haired man reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Mr. Wheeler looked at it and chuckled nervously.

"How did that get there?" he asked, rather unconvincingly.

The spiky haired guy opened it up and pulled out ten dollars. The man with the cap crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I need ninety more," he stated.

"Well I don't have it right now!"

The spikey haired guy cracked his knuckles, so Mr. Wheeler rephrased his response.

"I mean, I don't have it _yet_. Let me call my wife and she can bring it over."

The man with the cap opened up his jacket and pulled out a cell phone. The other men let go of Mr. Wheeler while the lead guy handed him the device. Mr. Wheeler raised his finger to dial, but hesitated.

"Hey Ren, what's your mom's number?" he asked.

"Oh for God's sake!" spat the capped man. "Just give the girl the phone!"

Mr. Wheeler handed the phone to his daughter. Quickly she dialed the number and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hey mom. I'm…good. Hey, listen, we're in Tokyo right now and don't have any money. Do you think you could bring us about a hundred dollars?...No, he didn't forget the tickets. Can you please bring the money to the Tokyo Stadium?...Okay, thank you so much! I love you. Yes, I'll tell Joey…yes, I'll tell dad. Bye."

After hanging up Serenity handed the phone back to the ring leader.

"We'll just stick around until dear old mom shows up," said the capped man. "Now, let's all head to the parking lot. There'll be less…witnesses."

Kaiba exchanged glances with the two Wheelers. The three followed the men, climbing the steep steps while trying to avoid trash and half eaten snacks.

"Joey, mom wanted me to tell you that she loves you and misses you."

"That's nice," said Kaiba.

"Hey Ren, what did your mom wanna tell me?"

"That she wants more alimony."

"…Oh…well then…"

Kaiba shook his head at the two. He hoped that this ordeal would soon be over with so that he and Joey could proceed with their plans.

…

Deep in cyberspace, Joey's eyes softly fluttered open. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by snow. Looking all around he realized that snow was all there was; there was no people, no lights, no anything. He looked up and saw a dark blue sky, but instead of clouds he saw stars and a large moon.

"Man, it looks cold, but it don't feel it," Joey muttered.

Not only could he not feel anything, but he couldn't smell or taste either. It seemed as though Ms. Johnson's virtual world wasn't as sophisticated as Noah's had been. That was probably why couldn't get his costume off.

"Oh well, there's always room for improvement. Man, Kaiba had better get here before something happens. If dat nut doesn't kill me then the boredom will!"

…

Mokuba stepped out of the limo. He'd just arrived at the front door of the V-Sphere headquarters, where his brother was supposed to be meeting the CEO. He took a deep breath and walked inside, hoping that trouble wasn't brewing.

"Hello, welcome to VSphere," greeted a secretary. "How can I help you?"

"My brother came here a few hours ago to meet with the CEO, and I was just wondering if he's still here."

"Who is your brother?"

"Seto Kaiba."

"Let me call and ask."

The secretary picked up the phone on her desk and dialed. In almost no time at all she got a response.

"Hello Ms. Johnson, I have a guest who's inquiring about the presence of Mr. Kaiba…I see…alright then, I will let him know." She hung up the phone and returned her attention to Mokuba. "Your brother left an hour ago."

Mokuba frowned. The secretary seemed sincere enough, but the young boy couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right.

"Okay then. I'll guess I'll just call him again. Thanks for your help."

The secretary gave him a curtly nod. Mokuba turned around and left the building. He reached for his cellphone but decided that calling his brother again would just be a waste of time. Something was up, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

…

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Mrs. Wheeler pulled into the parking lot of the baseball stadium. She got out of the car and stared at the three men with her ex and two kids. A groan escaped her lips as the realization seemed to dawn on her.

"You owe these guys money, don't you Jonathan?" she asked.

"Oh Marge, you know me too well."

She let out a huff and opened her purse.

"This is the last time I help you out!" she spat.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said last time; and yet, here we are."

She pulled out a hundred dollars and handed it to the man with the baseball cap. He counted it quickly and shoved it into his back pocket.

"Very good," he said to Mr. Wheeler. "Well Johnny, looks like you're off the hook."

With that him and his goons walked off, leaving the Wheelers alone.

"Wait a minute, didn't they take ten dollars from you?" Serenity asked her dad.

"Just let it go Ren."

Mrs. Wheeler crossed her arms and scowled.

"I can't believe you, Jonathan! You gamble away all your money and then you go and drag our kids into the middle of it!?"

"Oh please, that's nothing! Why just a few hours ago I beat the cops in a..." he paused when he saw the horror stricken expression on his ex wife's face, "I mean, uh…"

"You are unbelievable!" spat Mrs. Wheeler. "I have half a mind to sue you for permanent custody!"

Kaiba gritted his teeth as his rival's parents continued to argue. After half a minute of more fighting, the young CEO finally snapped.

"UGH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

The two adults stopped bickering and stared at him. Serenity sniffled and wiped her face. Clenching his fists, Kaiba continued to yell.

"You people are completely unbearable! I'd rather walk back to Domino City barefoot than spend another minute dealing with you idiots!"

Serenity gasped in shock while Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler's jaws dropped.

"Well I've had it!" Kaiba continued. "I'm leaving and I'm never coming back!"

"What? You can't do that!" said Mr. Wheeler.

"I can and I will! I'm eighteen years old; you have no control over me!"

With that Kaiba turned and began walking away.

"Joseph, at least let me give you a ride," said Mrs. Wheeler.

"No, just stay away from me!"

Serenity and Mrs. Wheeler teared up as they watched him leave the parking lot. Mr. Wheeler was unmoved and instead let out a snort.

"He'll be back," he assured his daughter and ex wife. "I've got his wallet!"

He whipped it out as proof, allowing Serenity to examine it.

"Hey, that's mine!" she spat.

"Oh…oops."

_A/N: This is probably the longest chapter I've done in a while. You know, I've never seen Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler interact on the show or in any other media form. I can't help but wonder what their relationship is like, if one even exists anymore. Feel free to leave a review. _


	15. Revelations and Propositions

Kaiba had been walking along the side of the road for roughly half an hour. He knew he had to get back to Domino, but he'd yet to form a plan to get back. Realistically he couldn't walk there in time, and he had no money for a bus. He'd considered hitchhiking, but decided that it would probably be too dangerous.

Beads of sweat began to drip down his face. It was a hot day, and if didn't get inside soon he could risk a heat stroke. He cursed under his breath and looked around for a place to go.

As he stopped and looked, a white corvette pulled up next to him. Inside the car were two college aged girls wearing way too much makeup and jewelry. Also they were blaring terrible pop music. The girls grinned as they examined him.

"Hey cutie, need a ride?" asked the driver.

Kaiba studied the two carefully. Hitchhiking could be very dangerous, but the two seemed harmless. Besides, if he could take down a robber he figured he could take down two girls if he had to.

"Uh, sure," he agreed.

With that he climbed into the backseat, trying to ignore the awful music and the strong scent of lavender. After he buckled up the car sped off.

"So where to?" asked the girl in the passenger side.

"Domino," he answered.

"Wait a minute," said the driver, who was observing him in her rear-view mirror, "aren't you Joey Wheeler?"

"Uh…I guess."

The two girls exchanged glances and squealed. Kaiba clasped his hands over his ears, regretting that he'd told them that.

"Oh my gosh, we've been watching you since Duelist Kingdom!" said the driver.

"Yeah, and we heard how you took down that robber! That was sooo brave!"

Kaiba couldn't help but smirk. It was funny to think that Joey had been scolding him over something that helped him gain popularity. The mutt owed him big for that.

"Can we like, get an autograph?" asked the driver.

"Uh, sure."

"Sign my boobs!" said the driver.

"Mine too!"

"Uh…" Kaiba drawled, deeply regretting his decision.

"Stacy, give him a marker!" said the driver.

The other girl, Stacy, reached into her purse. She handed a marker over to Kaiba, who continued to look dumbfounded and appalled. The driver undid her top button and pulled the fabric back.

"Just reach around and go for it!" she encouraged.

Kaiba bit down and his lip and did what he was told. Normally he didn't do such things, but they were giving him a ride back, so he decided to suck it up and deal with it. After he gave the driver an autograph he gave one to Stacy. The two girls looked at each other's chests and squealed.

"I'll never wash my breasts again!" cheered Stacy.

'_This is going to be a long ride_,' Kaiba thought to himself.

…

Deep in cyberspace, Joey continued walking through a snow covered terrain. He was hoping to come across a village or something, but so far hadn't seen anything.

"Oh man, I'm gonna be stuck in here forever!" he yelled.

He heard a cackle from around him.

"That's the idea, dear!"

Joey stopped and looked around. He recognized the voice.

"Ms. Johnson!?"

"That's right, Kaiba! I'm having fun watching you squirm!"

"You're sick, lady!"

"I'd watch the name calling if I were you! I'm in control of the programming!"

Joey cursed and tried to think. He was completely at Ms. Johnson's mercy. The only chance he had at getting out was to try and reason with her, or make her some kind of offer that she couldn't refuse. His eyes widened as an idea struck him.

"That's it! Hey Ms. Johnson, I've got a proposition for ya!"

"A proposition, for me? Ha! Like you have anything to offer me! I've already got the pods, and you at my complete mercy!"

"Dat may be true, but you don't have my company."

There was silence. For a moment his stomach knotted. He hoped that she hadn't decided to just log off and abandon him.

"Okay, I'm listening," she stated.

Joey let out a sigh of relief. He had a chance!

"Do you like Duel Monsters?" he asked.

"Of course—that's what got me hooked on you."

"Well how 'bout we have a duel? If I win you have to let me go, but if you win, you get my company and you can do whatever you want to me."

"And I suppose you'll be wanting your pods back?"

"No, you can keep 'em. That way, you win either way."

There was silence once again. After what seemed like forever, Ms. Johnson gave her answer.

"Alright, we'll duel! I'll let you out and lead you to my private quarters! Don't try anything funny!"

Joey had never felt so relieved, and nervous, in his life. He may have gotten himself out of cyberspace, but he wasn't out of the woods just yet. If he didn't win then he, and Kaiba, would lose everything.

…

After getting nowhere with the secretary at V-Sphere, Mokuba decided to turn to the one person who normally helped out in these types of situations. He made no effort to call beforehand and just rushed to the Muto's game shop as quickly as possible, hoping to catch Yugi there. As he stepped inside he saw Yugi, his grandfather and friends. The group was surprised to see him.

"Mokuba? What's wrong?" asked Yugi.

"It's my brother; he's gone missing!"

"What?" Tristan asked in disbelief.

"He went to V-Sphere over two hours ago," Mokuba began to explain. "I couldn't get a hold of him on his phone and when I went down there they said that he'd already left. Nobody seems to know where he is!"

"Do you have any idea where he could've gone?" asked Yugi.

Mokuba shook his head.

"I don't know, but I'm worried. He's been acting really weird lately, and now he's just disappeared!"

Yugi, Tea and Tristan exchanged glances.

"You know, Joey's been acting weird too," said Tea.

"Really?" asked Mokuba.

"Yeah, the guy's been acting like a real grouch," Tristan remarked.

"That's funny, because Seto's been acting kind of scatterbrained. Just the other day his computer got infected and he didn't even know how to fix it." The gang's eyes widened, but Mokuba ignored their reactions and continued. "And when he helped me with my homework he got all of the answers wrong."

"Wow. Joey's been doing unusually well in school," said Tristan. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that they traded—"

Tristan's jaw dropped. He looked over at Yugi, who was equally as shocked.

"Yugi, do you think it's possible that they…"

Just then the bell to the front doors rang. Marik stepped inside the shop with a smile on his face.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he greeted.

The five glanced at the Millennium item that Marik had stored under his belt. The Egyptian boy noticed their stares and stopped smiling.

"What?" he asked.

"Marik, have you been using your rod?" Yugi inquired.

"Uh…gee, look at the time! I'd better-"

"_Marik_," Yugi pressed.

He cursed under his breath and forced himself to look his former enemy in the eyes.

"Okay, so I might have been using it just a little," he confessed.

"And did you use it on Joey and Kaiba by any chance?" asked Tristan.

"No! Of course not!" the gang let out a collective sigh of relief, but then Marik elaborated, "but Bakura did."

Yugi, his grandfather and friends gasped in shock. Marik chuckled nervously and took a step back.

"It was just a harmless prank!" he insisted. "All he did was have them switch bodies!"

"And is he going to switch them back!?" barked Tea.

"Well, he did mention something about being repaid," Marik muttered.

"What?" asked Mokuba.

"They accidentally damaged Bakura's spell book, so he's keeping them like this until they get him some more spells; which they did, but unfortunately they weren't the right ones. They came up with this idea to use virtual pods to switch back. As a matter of fact I was going to help them break into V-Sphere tonight so they could use them."

"Couldn't they just use the ones at Kaiba Corp?" asked Tea.

Mokuba shook his head.

"No, Seto—I mean, Joey, sold the rights to V-Sphere," he explained.

"Well that was dumb," Tristan remarked.

Just then the phone rang. Solomon walked over a few steps and picked it up.

"Kame Game Shop," he greeted. "Joey?"

Mokuba and the others gasped.

"It's Seto!" he exclaimed.

Solomon narrowed his brows. He lifted the phone away from his head and placed a hand on the receiver.

"He's asking about Kaiba—I mean, Joey."

"Grandpa, give me the phone," requested Yugi.

Solomon handed the phone to his grandson.

"Hey Kaiba."

"_Wha—how did you-"_

"Marik told us what happened. Why didn't you and Joey say something?"

"_We didn't want to cause a scene. The whole thing is just ridiculous!" _

"Where are you?" Yugi heard squealing on the other line and held the phone away from him for a second.

"_I'm stuck with two fangirls. One of them is letting me use her phone. As for my exact location, I'm afraid I don't know."_

Yugi raised a brow.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"_The mutt's father dragged us to Tokyo for a game and I had enough and walked out. Speaking of the mutt, where is he? I'd like to speak with him."_

Yugi bit down on his lip.

"Uh…well…we don't know."

"_WHAT!?"_

"He went to V-Sphere and never came back. Nobody knows where he is."

"_Why did he go there?"_

"Uh…Mokuba, why did he go there?"

"The CEO called him for a meeting."

Apparently Kaiba had heard him, because he began responding.

"_Yugi, tell Mokuba to run a background check on the CEO and report back to me. I'll be at the shop as soon as possible."_

"Okay, I-" Yugi stopped speaking once he realized that Kaiba had hung up. He let out a sigh and hung up the phone.

"Well, he said he's on his way," he explained to his friends. "In the meantime, I think we should look into that CEO running V-Sphere."

…

At the V-Sphere headquarters, Ms. Johnson made good of her word and let Joey out of the virtual prison. She led him to her private office, which was a medium sized room with a desk, chairs, TV, computer and some potted plants and pictures. Joey looked around, trying to figure out how they were going to play.

"So how are we gonna do dis?" he asked.

Ms. Johnson raised a brow at him. Mentally Joey cursed himself for slipping back into his accent, but Ms. Johnson seemed to ignore it.

"Oh, this stuff can be easily moved with the push of a button."

With that she flipped a switch on the wall. The furniture began to sink into the ground and silver cabinets slowly popped out of the walls. Joey's eyes widened in astonishment as the room transformed before him. Once the floor was clear, Ms. Johnson approached the cabinets and pulled out a duel disk.

"Sooo where does that stuff go?" asked Joey.

"In a storage chamber below us."

"So dat's why there's no floor twelve…you know, that should've struck me as odd a lot sooner."

"…yeah, I should probably do something about that. It's confusing our maids."

Joey nodded in agreement. Ms. Johnson strapped on her duel disk and pulled a deck out of the cabinet.

"Alright Mr. Kaiba, it's time to gear up! This will likely be your last duel, so make it worth my time!"

Joey cringed as he looked into the cupboard. His rival's all powerful deck was sitting back at the Kaiba mansion, and it was likely that Ms. Johnson had taken her most powerful cards for herself. With no other options, he decided to just make a new deck with the most powerful cards he could find. Once his deck was completed, he put on a duel disk and walked to the side of the room opposite from the crazed Ms. Johnson.

"Alright Mr. Kaiba, let's duel!"

_A/N: I can't believe it took me this long to update. Well, let me know what you think about this chapter and the story so far. _


End file.
